On October 22, 2013, an anti-dumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) petition was filed by Mexichem Fluor, Inc. on R-134a gas from China. Mexichem alleges AD margins as high as 196% and that Chinese producers are benefitting from several subsidies. Duty liability could begin as soon as January 16, 2014.
AD duties are imposed to offset unfairly priced imports that materially injure or threaten to injure the U.S. industry. CVD duties are imposed to offset allegedly unfairly priced imports that are subsidized by national, state, or provincial governments that materially injure or threaten to injure the U.S. industry.
On October 24, 2013, the United States International Trade Commission sent a letter to all U.S. R134a stakeholders requesting that they complete a questionnaire on R-134a. Questionnaires must be completed by November 5, 2013. The Commission will use this information to “determine whether there is a reasonable indication that an industry in the United States is materially injured or is threatened with material injury, or the establishment of an industry in the United States is materially retarded, by reason of imports from China of R-134a that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the United States at less than fair value.”
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