The Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday that its imposition of anti-dumping duties on acrylate imports from Japan and the US has come to an end, as it had announced it would on June 1.

Provisional anti-dumping measures were implemented on November 23, 2000 against Japanese and US acrylate imports, meaning those with profit margins between 24 and 71 percent had to pay duties.

The concerns of three Chinese producers of acrylate, an industrial raw material used to make plastic models and optical parts, jewelry, adhesives, paint and textile fibers, had prompted anti-dumping investigations.

In June 2001, the former Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation formalized the measures, giving them a five-year term in line with WTO rules.

Smaller companies, downstream in the industrial chain, supported the end of the measures for fear of higher prices and less choice in acrylate supplies.

Gong Beifan, secretary general of China Adhesives Industry Association, had said in September that the anti-dumping measures had caused 50 billion yuan (US$6.2 billion) losses for the adhesive industry.

(China.org.cn November 24, 2005)