China imposes upto 75 per cent tariffs on plastic imports from US, EU, Japan and Taiwan

China announced on Monday that it will impose up to 75 per cent of anti dumping duties on plastic imports from the United States, European Union, Taiwan and Japan. The decision comes following a probe by Beijing’s commerce ministry into alleged dumping practices involving polyformaldehyde copolymer, a widely used plastic in the automotive, medical, and household appliance industries.The new tariffs, ranging from 3.8 percent to 74.9 percent, took effect on Monday, the commerce ministry said in a statement released on Sunday.The dumping of polyformaldehyde copolymer is causing substantial harm to the domestic industry, as per the ministry.According to the announcement on Sunday, the highest tax of 74.9% will be added to plastic imports from the United States, while imports from Europe will face a 34.5% tax.China set a 35.5% tax on plastic imports from Japan, except for Asahi Kasei Corp, which got a lower rate of 24.5%. Imports from Taiwan were mostly taxed at 32.6%, but Formosa Plastics was given a 4% rate, and Polyplastics Taiwan was taxed at 3.8%, the lowest.China has a history of using anti-dumping investigations as leverage in broader trade disagreements. In April, Beijing imposed similar duties on brandy imports from the European Union, giving a blow to France’s cognac industry, which is majorly export reliant.The latest move signals that, despite temporary gestures of goodwill, China remains willing to flex its trade enforcement mechanisms in response to perceived unfair practices by key trading partners.This development comes just days after the US and China agreed to a temporary 90-day reduction in broader tariffs as part of a tentative truce in their ongoing trade war. The trade dispute between the world's two largest economies has disrupted global markets and supply chains for over a year.