South Korea's trade watchdog Friday, September 5, announced it will impose an antidumping tariff on polyethylene terephthalate film imports from Japan.

The 5.95% duty will be imposed for the next five years as local manufacturers are being undercut by the cheaper imports, the Korea Trade Commission said in a statement.

"KTC concluded that there exists real damage to the local industry from the dumping of Japanese PET film and decided to recommend antidumping tariffs of 5.95% on Japanese imports over the next five years," the commission said in a statement.

It launched a probe into the matter last December.

The punitive duties will take effect after the Finance Ministry approves its decision, KTC said.

PET film is widely used in package wrappers and bottle caps and has various industrial applications.

South Korea's market for PET film was worth about Won 380 billion ($371 million) in 2013, with 17% of supply sourced from Japan, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Source: platts.com