Post-ITC Vendor Strategies
by Judy Grande
While overseas manufacturers of large printing presses say they are still assessing the impact of the International Trade Commission ruling that imposes hefty duties on imported newspaper presses, the fallout has begun. Mitsubishi's U.S. sales manager has left the company and the Japanese manufacturer will not exhibit at NEXPO this year. TKS, KBA-Motter and MAN Roland remain active and will have NEXPO displays.
Roy Yokouchi, Mitsubishi's director of newspaper printing presses, says his company has not decided to pull out of the U.S. market, though he acknowledges it "looks very difficult to continue with a 63 percent anti-dumping duty." He says the company's future here depends on the outcome of Mitsubishi's appeal of the ruling and the final margin imposed on eight Mitsubishi presses purchased by The Washington Post. Though Mitsubishi will post a 63-percent-of-sale bond when the presses enter the country (the first five are expected this year), the duty will be reviewed and can be adjusted to represent the actual difference between sale price and fair market value. "Until things become clear, we have to wait--but we have never said we are withdrawing," Yokouchi says.
TKS also wants to dispel rumors that it is giving up on the U.S. "Absolutely not--please kill that one," says Jesse Strong, senior sales manager. TKS just received an order from The Dallas Morning News for two printing towers, and it has a good market here for its digital ink pumps. Strong says TKS, with a facility in Texas, also sells a lot of single-width presses. The ITC ruling applies only to double width.
At KBA's York, Pa., facility, President Scott R. Smith also takes a "wait-and-see" attitude. He says KBA will import "value-added components" from Germany, where they can be produced more economically. Some smaller parts, such as fasteners, will be made in the United States. Test runs and assembly will be done in York. Smith says KBA has reduced the size of its booth at NEXPO to contain costs and because it will not display a "major piece of steel."
MAN Roland's Vincent Lapinski, vice president of newspaper sales, says, "We will continue to pursue this market." However, MAN Roland is consolidating its U.S. manufacturing into one facility, says Lapinski. He adds the company has five installations under way, but, "The next six-to-nine months will tell the impact."
Judy Grande is a free-lance writer in Great Falls, Va. E-mail, RockyRun91@aol.com; phone, (703) 759-0276.