The US Department of Commerce (DoC) has revoked an anti-dumping (AD) order against Japanese forklifts first implemented more than 15 years ago.

In a US Federal Register notice, the International Trade Commission (ITC) determined in a sunset review that revocation of the AD order would not lead to injury to the US industry within a reasonably foreseeable time.

On June 7, 1988, the DoC first published its AD order and found dumping margins ranging from 13.65 per cent to 56.81 per cent for "selected respondents" and a margin of 39.45 per cent for "all other" Japanese forklift manufacturers, producers, and exporters.

The margins were calculated based on price differences of forklifts sold in "own markets" compared to those sold in the USA.

The Japanese forklifts covered by the order were IC industrial forklifts with load capacities ranging from 2,000lbs (907kg) to 15,000lbs (6803kg).

They were described as "assembled, not assembled, and less than complete, finished, and not finished, operator-riding forklifts powered by gasoline, propane or diesel fuel IC engines of off-the-highway types used in factories, warehouses, or transportation terminals for short-distance transport, towing, or handling of articles".

Forklifts manufactured three years before entering the USA were termed "genuinely used forklifts", and not covered by the AD order.

On June 2, 2000, the DoC published a continuation of the order. On March 1, 2005, the DoC initiated a sunset review of the order and found its revocation would lead to continued and recurred dumping.

The ITC was notified that revocation of the AD order would result in continued dumping by the following forklift manufacturers and exporters at weighted-average percentage margins of:

Toyota Motor Corp (47.79), Nissan Motor Co Ltd (51.33), Komatsu Forklift Co Ltd (47.50), Sumitomo-Yale Co Ltd (51.33), Toyo Umpanki Co Ltd (51.33), Sanki Industrial Co Ltd (13.65), Kasagi Forklift Inc (56.81) and all others (39.45).

However, on January 26, 2006, the ITC determined, under section 752 of the Tariff Act (1930), that revocation was not likely to cause material injury to the US industry.

A DoC staff member said the revocation was an affirmative finding of the DoC and the ITC.

"According to US law, a sunset review is conducted every five years to see if the order is renewed. The International Trade Administration of the DoC will investigate if there is evidence of dumping and the likelihood of future dumping while the ITC will determine if there is injury to a US industry," he said.

The DoC says the effective date of revocation of the AD order is June 2, 2005.