Russian pipe imports duty faces criticism from Japan

The imposition of an eight percent duty on large diameter pipe imports by the Russian government has met with serious criticism from the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The Japanese ministry officials stated last Friday that there was no evidence that Russia had suffered sufficient losses to justify the duty as a result of a sharp increase in pipe supplies from Japan. Russia's imports of Japanese pipes, mainly used in pipeline constructions, such as the large-scale oil and gas development project on Sakhalin Island, increased dramatically from 3,000 metric tons in 2003 to 270,000 metric tons in 2004. The Japanese authorities made it clear that Japan will seek the cancellation of the duty. The eight-percent Russian duty will be effective as of December 18, 2006 for a period of three years.