The anti-dumping claim was filed earlier this month by a Tennessee electric appliance company, Five Rivers Electronic Innovations, and two US trade unions of television assembly workers.

An official from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products (CCCME), said he hoped the ITC will not start the investigation since the Five Rivers does not have capacity to file the petition as an electronics assembler.

The Chamber has expressed its opinion through its US law firm Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker at the hearing held last Friday.

He added that China's TV exports to the US have risen in recent years, but accounted for only 11 per cent of its total imports and did not damage US industry.

Changhong, which exported 2 million units last year-almost half of the country's export to US, strongly denied it was taking part in dumping in the US.

The ITC's current investigation is still at the preliminary stage. If it determines in favour of the US maker in the mid-June ruling, the trade watchdog will conduct further investigations to determine if the US industry actually suffered from the Chinese and Malaysian makers' exports.

In parallel with the ITC's continued investigation, the US Commerce Department will examine whether the Chinese and Malaysian television export practices constitute dumping and, if so, will set their dumping margins.

On the other hand, a preliminary ITC ruling in favor of the foreign exporters will end the case.

The petition requests duties up to 84 per cent on TVs from China and up to 46 per cent from Malaysia.

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2003)