Low-cost TVs: Free trade may be good for American consumers, but it isn't always good for American workers. So concluded a US trade panel investigating charges that Chinese manufacturers have been "dumping" low-cost television sets on the US market over the past three years. On May 14, the US International Trade Commission voted unanimously to impose duties averaging 23% on imports of Chinese-made color televisions (CTVs), an action that could force up retail prices. Acting on a petition brought by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), the Industrial Division of the Communication Workers of America (IUE-CWA), and Five Rivers Electronic Innovations, LLC, a TV manufacturer in Greeneville, Tennessee, the Commission found that between 2001 and 2003, total CTV imports from China rose 3000%, from 56,000 units to 1.8 million units. Imports of consumer goods reached an all-time high of $31.3 billion in March 2004, according to Five Rivers president Tom Hopson.
Barry Willis
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