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BBC
may post losses
London: The BBC is likely to land at least 300
million pounds ($490 million) in the red when it announces
annual results next week, hit by a hefty pension shortfall,
agency reports say. The looming bad news comes at a difficult
time for Britain's largest broadcaster, which is entangled
in a row with the British government over documents on
Iraq and faces a politically sensitive review of its charter.
The BBC, funded by a compulsory licence fee on UK television
owners, said it will announce a 1.07 billion pound deficit
in its mammoth pension fund, due mostly to a decline in
stock market values. The BBC presents its annual report
to a parliamentary committee on July 15.
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US
steel duties are illegal: WTO panel
Geneva: The World Trade Organisation has ruled
against heavy import duties on steel imposed by the US
government, saying that they are illegal under global
trade rules. The 968-page decision confirmed an interim
ruling issued earlier this year, say agency reports. It
upheld complaints from the European Union and seven other
countries that the duties — supposed to protect the
US steel industry from cheap imports - were unfairly hurting
their producers. "This is not just a partial victory,
this is a full victory. We have been given satisfaction
on all accounts," said EU spokeswoman Arancha Gonzalez.
In a joint statement, the eight complainants called on
the United States to remove the measures "without
delay." The EU said it was ready to impose $2.2 billion
in retaliatory duties on US imports. US President George
W Bush introduced the "safeguard" duties of
up to 30 per cent on steel products in March of last year.
Administration officials argued the tariffs were allowed
under WTO provisions that allow temporary duties for up
to three years to protect a domestic industry from a flood
of cheap imports and give it time to restructure. But
the European Union and its allies complained that the
move was in breach of a whole raft of WTO rules and threatened
to raise their own import tariffs in response.
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Thailand
to lift steel anti-dumping duties
Bangkok: Thailand says it will lift anti-dumping
duties imposed in May on hot-rolled steel imported from
14 countries including Japan, South Africa, Russia and
Kazakhstan. The move followed lobbying by several cold-rolled
steel producers led by Japanese firms based in Thailand
that argued the anti-dumping duties favoured Thailand's
biggest maker of hot-rolled steel coils, Sahaviriya Steel
Industries Plc, say reports. Hot-rolled steel is imported
by Thai cold-rolled steel producers for use in several
industries. Thai Commerce Minister Adisai Bodharakik said
in a statement the anti-dumping duties would be lifted
for five years on hot-rolled steel used by the auto and
home electrical appliance industries, electrical galvanised
steel and galvanised sheet steel. The other 10 countries
which had been targeted by the anti-dumping duties are
India, South Korea, Taiwan, Venezuela, Argentina, Ukraine,
Algeria, Indonesia, Slovakia and Romania. The duties ranged
from 3.45 per cent to 136.50 per cent depending on the
exporting country and company. On Friday, Sahaviriya Steel
closed up two percent at 9.50 baht, in line with the overall
Thai stock market
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