Mexichem appeals R134a trade ruling

USA: Mexichem Fluor has appealed against the US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling last November that the import of Chinese R134a does not harm US industry.

Mexichem says the appeal was lodged with the United States Court of International Trade on January 6. It expects the appeal process to take approximately one year.

In November, the US Trade Commission ruled that the import of R134a refrigerant from China did not result in “material injury or threat of material injury” to the US refrigerant gas industry. The decision resulted in the elimination of dumping duties of 280.67% and countervailing duties averaging 11.14% found by the Department of Commerce.

In its original complaint, Mexichem said that imports of R134a from China increased from 4,369 tons in 2010 to 12,868 tons in 2012 before declining slightly in first half of 2013. In addition to these significant increases, Mexichem said the imports entered at exceptionally low prices. Drawing on customs data, Mexichem maintained that import prices fell from $5,280 per ton in 2010 to $4,130 per ton in 2012 and then plummeted to $3,400 per ton in the first half of 2013.

The US R134a industry was said to have suffered as a result, losing market share and being forced to cut prices at the expense of profit in an effort to compete.

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