Canadian Windshield Manufacturer Welcomes Initiation of Dumping Investigation of Chinese Automotive Replacement Glass Windshields.

Business Editors

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 18, 2001

PPG Canada Inc. today received the decision of the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (CCRA) to initiate a dumping investigation of automotive replacement glass (ARG) windshields from the People's Republic of China.

"The Government of Canada's decision to initiate this investigation is encouraging news to the men and women who work in PPG's Hawkesbury, Ontario, manufacturing plant, because the Canadian ARG windshield industry has been beleaguered by a flood of unfairly traded Chinese imports," said Mark Shoemaker, director of finance and human resources for PPG Canada.

Under international trade treaties and Canada's Special Import Measures Act (SIMA), dumping occurs when goods are sold to importers in Canada at prices that are lower than the selling price of comparable goods in the country of export, or when goods are sold to Canada at unprofitable prices.

"We believe the manufacturing efficiency of our Hawkesbury workers is among the best. Our people are willing and able to compete with imports that are fairly traded in compliance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) Antidumping Agreement and Canadian law," Shoemaker said. "The fact that our complaint is strongly supported by a Montreal windshield manufacturer, Lamiver Inc., demonstrates that dumped Chinese windshields are an industrywide problem."

The CCRA and the Canadian International Trade Tribunal (CITT) will proceed with their investigations to determine the degree of dumping and injury to the Canadian industry. The investigation process typically takes about seven months and will conclude with a CITT injury hearing where interested parties can present their case. If dumping is found to cause injury to the Canadian industry, the imported Chinese windshields will be subject to an antidumping duty.

PPG Canada, which is headquartered in Toronto, is a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries, a global supplier of coatings, glass, fiber glass and chemicals. Sales were US$8.6 billion in 2000.