The US commerce department has decided to investigate dumping of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin by Indian and Chinese companies allegedly at prices far below the market value of these products.
US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the affirmative preliminary determinations in the anti-dumping duty investigations of imports of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin from China and India, following a petition by The Chemours Company FC LLC (Wilmington, DE).
“The dumping of goods below market value in the United States is something the Trump Administration takes very seriously,” said Secretary Ross. "The Department of Commerce will continue to stand up for American workers and business in order to ensure that everyone trades on a level playing field.”
On a preliminary investigation the commerce department determined that exporters from China and India have sold PTFE resin in the United States at 69.34 to 208.16 per cent and 18.49 per cent less than fair value, respectively.
The department of commerce will instruct US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits from importers on imports of PTFE resin from China and India based on these preliminary rates.
In 2016, imports of PTFE resin from China and India were valued at an estimated $24.6 million and $14.3 million, respectively.
Since Donald Trump took over as President, the US commerce department has initiated 112 new anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations. This is 75 per cent more than the 64 initiations in the last 466 days of the previous administration.
“The AD law provides US businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of unfair pricing of imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 430 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade,” the department stated in a release.
The department is scheduled to announce the final determinations in these investigations on 18 September.
If the US International Trade Commission (ITC) finds real harm to the US due to dumping of these products, the commerce department will issue AD orders.
If the final determination of injury is negative, the investigations will be terminated and no orders will be issued, the release added.