Chinese HFC blends evaded anti-dumping duties
12th July 2024
USA: The US Department of Commerce has ruled that imports of certain blend refrigerants from Turkey, Malaysia and China have been circumventing anti-dumping duties imposed in 2016.
On July 5, the Department issued affirmative findings of circumvention with respect to imports of R410A and R410B from Turkey and imports of R410B, R407G and an unspecified “custom blend” from China. Last month, the Department also issued a final affirmative finding with respect to imports of R410A and R407C from Malaysia.
Anti-dumping duties of between 101.82% and 216.37% were imposed on refrigerants from China in 2016 after complaints that unfairly traded refrigerant imports were causing material injury to the US domestic fluorochemicals industry.
The American HFC Coalition, representing the US refrigerant manufacturers, has claimed that Since 2016, Chinese exporters and importers have continuously attempted to evade the anti-dumping duties by shipping HFC components to India, Turkey, Malaysia, and Mexico for blending. Chinese exporters have also shipped blends of HFC components into the United States for re-blending after importation.
Neither R410B or R407G are used commercially, so are not explicitly identified in the antidumping duty order. However, R410B can be relatively easily re-blended to other refrigerants. Officially a 45/55 blend of R32 and R125, it takes only minor processing to create the 50/50 blend of R410A.
Commenting on the decisions, the American HFC Coalition, representing US refrigerant manufacturers, said: “The decision regarding R410B imports from Turkey establishes that even a two-stage blending process, first in Turkey then in the United States, does not result in a product outside the scope of the anti-dumping order.
“Because blending or re-blending HFCs involves only “minor or insignificant” processing, even re-blending Chinese components multiple times in multiple countries will not insulate the imports from liability.”
In the cases of the Turkey R410A inquiry and the Malaysia inquiry, the Department of Commerce ordered that antidumping duties should be applied retroactively to all imports since November 2021.
Related stories:
US to investigate imports of Chinese “custom” blends – 1 July 2023
USA: The US Department of Commerce is said to have initiated an investigation into reports that Chinese imports of R410B and other “custom” refrigerant blends are breaching antidumping laws. Read more…
Chinese refrigerants face US import duties – 2 July 2016
USA: Anti-dumping duties on imports of HFC refrigerant blends moved a step closer last week after clearance by the US Department of Commerce. Read more…
