Imposition of anti-dumping duties requires affirmative final determinations both from the commerce department on dumping and USITC on injury. Last month, the commerce department made its final determination, finding that dumping did take place and calculating the dumping margins at 66.51 per cent for Garware Elastomerics Ltd and 45.55 per cent for all others. In 1998, the US imports of elastic rubber tape from India amounted to $428,926.

Dumping is the export of a good at less than the price in the home country or a third country or less than the cost of production. A dumping margin is the difference between the dumped price and fair-value market price.

The commerce department,however, ruled that Japan and seven other countries were dumping stainless steel products used to make cars and appliances and set hefty import duties to counter the action. The final ruling by the department means that anti-dumping duties of as much as nearly 60 per cent will be imposed on imports of stainless steel sheet and strip in coils, the industry's largest product line, if USITC finds that the domestic industry is being harmed by the imports.

The duties will affect imports from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan and Britain. The industry trade association said supplies from the targeted countries account for about 80 per cent of total US import volumes and were worth about $450 million. The metal is used in building construction and has a wide range of other applications in addition to automobile and appliance manufacturing, the trade group said.

US steelmakers filed a number of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases after financial crises in Asia, Russia and Brazil dried updemand for their products in those regions. Imports began to surge last year in the face of strong demand in the robust US economy.

USITC is expected to take a final decision on injury in the case within 45 days. If the agency finds injury, duties will go into effect retroactively from November last year in the subsidy case and January in the dumping case although some imports from South Korea, Taiwan and Japan could be subject to anti-dumping duties as far back as October.

The commerce department also found that stainless steel imports from France, Italy and South Korea were being subsidised by the government and set countervailing duties ranging from less than one per cent to 59.3 per cent for South Korea, 1.03 per cent to 12.22 per cent for Italy and 5.38 per cent for France.

The department said anti-dumping duties on stainless steel were set at the following levels: France, 10.64 per cent; Germany, 25.82 per cent; Italy, 11.17 per cent; Japan, 37.13 per cent to 57.87 per cent; South Korea, zero to58.79 per cent; Mexico, 30.86 per cent; Taiwan, 0.98 per cent to 34.95 per cent; and Britain, 14.84 per cent.