The European Union decided Thursday to impose five-year duties on aluminum foil imported from China, Brazil and Armenia over alleged dumping charges.

The EU said in its decision that the duties were up to 30 percent as a punishment to Chinese exporters for selling the product at below cost, or dumping. Reports say that Shanghai-based Alcoa Aluminum Products Co. was affected by the punishment.

The tariffs on Brazilian products are 17.6 percent, Armenia's are 13.4 percent.

The EU accepted an offer by Brazil's Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio to sell at a minimum price in return for an exemption from the anti-dumping duty. It rejected a similar proposal by Armenia's Rusal-Armenal company.

The five-year duties came after six-month provisional duties expired and will go into effect once being published in the EU's Official Journal by Oct. 8. The six-month levies were up to 42.9 percent.

The EU staged a probe into the products from the three countries began in July 2008 after receiving a dumping complaint by the European Association of Metals.

The measure covers aluminum foil in rolls as wide as 650 millimeters and a weight exceeding 10 kilograms, with a thickness between 0.008 millimeter and 0.018 millimeter.

On the same day, the EU decided to slap tariffs as high as 39.2 percent on Chinese steel seamless pipes and tubes.

(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2009)