Washington, DC – In another surge in ongoing trade wars, the United States decided to collect cash deposits from importers of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin from India, according to the US Commerce Department.
Announcing the decision on Thursday (March 1), US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said, “The Department will act swiftly while ensuring a full and fair assessment of the facts,” adding, “The Trump administration is committed to the enforcement of America’s trade laws that ensure US businesses and workers have a fair chance to compete.”
Ross announced the affirmative preliminary determination in the co
untervailing duty (CVD) investigation of imports of PTFE resin from India, finding that exporters in India received countervailable subsidies of 3.90 percent.
Imports from companies that receive unfair subsidies from their governments in the form of grants, loans, equity infusions, tax breaks and production inputs are subject to “countervailing duties” aimed at directly countering those subsidies.
The Commerce Department instructed US Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of PTFE resin India based on these preliminary rates. In 2016 alone, imports of PTFE resin from India were valued at an estimated $14.3 million.
The action was initiated after a move by a petitioner, The Chemours Company FC LLC, based in Wilmington, Delaware. On September 28, 2017, The Chemours Company, filed petitions with the Commission and Commerce, alleging that an industry in the United States is materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of less than fair value (LTFV) and subsidized imports of PTFE resin from India and LTFV imports of PTFE resin from China.
Since the new administration under President Donald Trump took office, the enforcement of US trade law became a prime focus of the administration. From January 20, 2017, through February 28, 2018, the Commerce Department has initiated 102 antidumping and countervailing duty investigations – a 96 percent increase from same period in 2016 – 2017, the department noted.
According to the enforcement rules, CVD law provides US businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of unfair subsidization of imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 418 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.
Commerce is currently scheduled to announce its final CVD determination on May 15, 2018.
If the Commerce Department makes an affirmative final determination in this investigation and the US International Trade Commission (ITC) makes an affirmative final injury determination, Commerce will issue a CVD order.