USITC rules against anti-dumping duty on PTFE resin from India & China

Underscoring that the threshold for injury determination at USITC is very low, Chaudhary said the federal American body generally sides with the US domestic industry.

The US International Trade Commission has ruled against putting the anti-dumping duty on the imports of a synthetic fluoropolymer, a key ingredient in non-stick coating for pans and other cookware, from India and China.

In a ruling last week, the US International Trade Commission (USITC) determined that polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE resin from India and China were sold in the US at less than fair value.

A crystalline polymer of tetrafluoroethylene, PTFE has a variety of end-use applications including gaskets, seals, linings, packing materials, tubing, pipe liners, and pipe coatings due to its chemical inertness, heat resistance, electrical insulation properties and functionality over a wide temperature range (-40°C to 260°C).

As a result of its negative determinations, "no antidumping duty orders will be issued on imports of this product from China and India," USITC said Friday.

Dharmendra Choudhary, Counsel for the foreign exporters in this proceeding, said an antidumping order would have been issued without this remarkable success at USITC.

Underscoring that the threshold for injury determination at USITC is very low, Chaudhary said the federal American body generally sides with the US domestic industry.

"Given the extremely paltry success rate of foreign exporters in USITC proceedings, this exceptional victory of Indian PTFE exporters is all the more notable," Chaudhary told PTI.

"It is hoped that Indian PTFE exporters would ride on to this timely victory to cement their position in the US market," he said.

Choudhary said without the orders, PTFE imports from India would have been subject to an anti-dumping duty of 22.78 per cent.

In addition, Indian PTFE exporters would also have been imperiled by a costly and time-consuming annual cycle of administrative review of anti-dumping order, laden with unpredictable results, he said.

(With inputs from agencies.)