A group of U.S. and Mexican refrigerant gas makers sought the U.S. Commerce Department to enforce anti-dumping duties on imports of Chinese-made R134a. This comes after the group accused the suppliers of dumping the gas refrigerant from China.
According to Reuters, the complainants alleged that the supplies of the gas refrigerant imported from China are being solid were less than their reasonable worth. With that, the group is seeking dumping margins of 150 percent to more than 200 percent.
The same case involving refrigerant makers, the U.S. Commerce Department applied preliminary anti-dumping duties. These range from 92 percent to 210 percent.
The lawyer of the group of refrigerants, James Cannon, stated that China has overly made the capacity to manufacture 200,000 tons of hydro-fluorocarbon refrigerants. This is said to be enough provide the U.S. market four times over, but the problem is that it is selling the refrigerants less than the expected cost.
"China has no inherent cost advantage for this product," the attorney said. He also added that the bulk of Chinese production is heading to the United States.
The preliminary determination, announced by the Department of Commerce at the end of last week, is made after supporting the complaint filed last June by the American HFC Coalition that the refrigerants are being sold at low cost. The Cooling Post noted that the U.S. anti-dumping laws give an internationally accepted means to ask for relief from the market, which aim to change the effects caused by the harmful dumping of imports in the United States.
Moreover, the latest petition filed covering the R134a from China asks the application of anti-dumping laws to level the aftermarket automotive air conditioning. Without further action from the unfair cost of these products, the U.S. industry will not be able to invest in the U.S. production of refrigerants, as reported by PR Newswire.
Meanwhile, the duties are expected to take effect 9-13 months after, with the preliminary determination imposing anti-dumping duties within approximately 6 months. The American HFC Coalition also believes that the move will improve the U.S. industry to allow future investments and development.
