Four North American equipment makers are inching closer to formal action against Asian injection press imports, citing ``inordinate surges'' of machines from Japan and South Korea.
Milacron Inc., Engel North America, HPM Corp. and Van Dorn Demag Corp. are members of the North American Machinery Manufacturers.
NAMM met Feb. 11 in Cleveland, and issued a news release several weeks later.
NAMM's core complaint is, despite poor economic conditions throughout Asia, machinery makers there continue to pump out injection presses at full production.
NAMM said some manufacturers in Japan and South Korea are exporting to the United States at record levels. Those companies are ``trying to export their way out of financial difficulty,'' NAMM charged.
``NAMM intends to pursue all avenues of appropriate trade remedy to ensure the continued stability of the domestic industry, including trade litigation,'' according to the news release.
Robert Branand, a Washington lawyer who represents NAMM, said the group formally will ask the Customs Service to investigate transshipment, the shipping of products to the United States via another country.
Transshipment sometimes is done to get around U.S. import tariffs or skew import data, and is illegal, Branand said.
NAMM also plans to file a petition with the International Trade Commission requesting more-detailed information on parts for injection presses from Canada.
Currently, the U.S. government requires importers to list the type of part, such as a screw or barrel, and the dollar value. NAMM wants the Customs Service to add information about the quantity of parts in each shipment.
Branand said NAMM has not been able to determine if Asian manufacturers are shipping machines or parts through Canada, he said.
NAMM plans to meet again March 31 in Cleveland.
Its members claim they make 85 percent of North America's injection presses.