US refrigerant firms to fight Chinese imports
25th June 2015
USA: A coalition of US-based manufacturers and other interested parties have filed an anti-dumping petition on Chinese refrigerant imports.
A previously unheard of group – the American Hydrofluorocarbon Coalition – has today filed an anti-dumping duty petition charging that unfairly traded imports of certain HFC blends and components from China are causing material injury to the US domestic fluoro-chemicals industry.
The petition was filed concurrently with the United States Department of Commerce and the United States International Trade Commission.
The group comprises refrigerant producers Honeywell, Chemours (DuPont), Mexichem and Arkema, along with US refrigerant repacker Hudson Technologies and cylinder manufacturers Amtrol and Worthington Cylinders.
The list of refrigerants named in the petition comprise the high GWP supermarket gases R404A and R507A, the R404A alternative R407A, air conditioning refrigerants R407C and R410A and blend components R32, R125 and R143a.
The group alleges dumping margins for the HFCs range from 100% to over 300%. The petition is said to be being filed in response to large and increasing volumes of low-priced imports from China. They claim that imports from China have increased by 60% from 2012 to 2014, and continue to steadily increase. As a result, they claim, manufacturers are losing market share and prices are rapidly falling.
The coalition claims that Chinese producers have injured the US industry by selling the refrigerants at unfairly low prices that consistently undercut the prices of the US producers.
“This has had a direct negative impact on US producer revenues and profitability,” the coalition says in a statement. “Low-priced imports from China have been and continue to capture increasing shares of the US market at the direct expense of the US industry.”
The petition seeks the imposition of antidumping duties to level the playing field. The action is expected to take 9-13 months to complete, with a preliminary determination imposing antidumping duty deposits within approximately 6 months.
At the end of 2013, Mexichem singularly launched an ultimately unsuccessful bid for the US government to impose sanctions on R134a imports from China, which the Mexican manufacturer claimed was being sold in the United States at less than fair value.
Further reading:
US “no” to duties on Chinese R134a – November 13, 2014
USA: Refrigerant manufacturer Mexichem says it is considering appealing the US decision not to impose duties on Chinese R134a. Read more…
Chinese accused of dumping R134a – November 24, 2013
USA: Refrigerant manufacturer Mexichem has petitioned the US government to impose sanctions on R134a imports from China. Read more…
Chinese R134a faces US sanctions – December 13, 2013
USA: The US International Trade Commission has sided with Mexichem in agreeing that Chinese R134a is allegedly being subsidised and sold at unfair prices. Read more…
