KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- The Malaysian government is imposing a provisional duty on steel wire rods imports from China, China's Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey after preliminary investigations found the lower-priced imports have hurt the domestic industry.

The ministry of international trade said in a statement on Tuesday that an anti-dumping duty of up to 33.62 percent would take effect no later than January 28 or 120 days from the publication of a government gazette on Tuesday.

"The government has found that there is sufficient evidence to continue with further investigation on the importation of steel wire rods from the alleged countries," the statement read.

The ministry initiated the anti-dumping investigation in May after it received a petition from a domestic steel producer claiming to have suffered from price undercutting, low production, decline in profits and negative return on investment among others.

A spokesperson from the ministry told Xinhua that authorities would visit the foreign producers' premises and decide 120 days from now on whether anti-dumping measures are needed to protect local steel-makers.

October 23, 2012

Source: Xinhua