On
August 19, 2020, the Argentinian authorities announced an anti-dumping resolution
on the imports of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants from China. According to
the final determination, a 7% anti-dumping tax of FOB price will be imposed on
the Chinese refrigerants containing HFC-134a and HFC-125 ,and 23% anti-dumping
tax of FOB price will be imposed on the Chinese refrigerants containing HFC-32
and HFC-125. The products subject to investigation are classified under the
following HS codes: 3824.78.10 and 3824.78.90. The anti-dumping determination
will take effect from the day the decision is announced and will be valid for a
duration of five years.
On
February 25, 2019, the Argentinian authorities initiated an anti-dumping
investigation on imports of HFC refrigerants from China. The investigation
lasted from February 2018 to January 2019, and the injury investigation
duration was from January 2016 to January 2019. On August 5, 2019, the
Argentinian authorities made a preliminary resolution on imports of HFC
refrigerants from China. According to the preliminary resolution, the HFC
refrigerants from China were still under investigation, but a provisional
anti-dumping duty was not imposed during that time.
US
conducts anti-circumvention resolution on China’s HFC refrigerants
On
August 19, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced an
anti-circumvention final resolution on imports involving refrigerants with HFC solutions
from China. However, according to the final resolution, Chinese HFC
refrigerants that contain R-32, R-125 and R143a should not be included on the
list of products subject to an anti-dumping duty. The products subject to
investigation are classified under the following HS codes: 3824.78.0020 and 3824.78.0050.
On
July 16, 2015, the U.S. Department of Commerce decided to initiate an
anti-dumping investigation on the imports of HFC refrigerants from China, and
the products subject to investigation are 3824.78.0000 and 2903.39.2030. On
June 22, 2016, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced an anti-dumping final resolution
on Chinese HFC refrigerants. On June 18, 2019, with the application of the
American HFC Coalition, the U.S. Department of Commerce decided to initiate an
anti-circumvention investigation on the imports of HFC refrigerants from China.
On April 10, 2020, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced an
anti-circumvention final resolution on the HFC refrigerants from China.
China retaliates with anti-dumping
investigation against USA-produced PVC
On
September 25, 2020, the Ministry of Commerce of China announced an anti-dumping
investigation on the imports of PVC from the US. According to the investigation
plan, the investigation will be completed by September 25, 2021, but the investigation
may extend to March 25, 2022 under special circumstances.
Data
shows that this is the third foreign trade investigation initiated by China’s
Ministry of Commerce on products from the US. The first two investigations were
the anti-subsidy investigations. The products subject to the first investigation
on September 14, 2020 were certain monoalkyl ethers of ethylene glycol, as well
as propylene glycol (also called certain glycol ether), with respective HS codes of 29094400 and 29094990. The product
subject to the second investigation on August 14, 2020 was polyphenylene ether
(also called polyphenylene oxide, PPE, or PPO), with HS code 39072090.
The
product subject to the anti-dumping investigation this time is polyvinyl chloride,
which is known as PVC. PVC has currently been one of the most widely produced
common plastic materials in the world. PVC is an essential primary chemical
product and is widely used in many areas.
PVC
is not only commonly used in plastic products but also used in architectural
materials, industrial products, sealing materials as well as high-strength
fiber products. In fact, this is the second anti-dumping investigation on PVC
products from the US. The first anti-dumping investigation on PVC products from
the US was in September 2003.
For
more information on China’s HFC market, please check our China
Fluoride Materials Monthly Report.