Commerce steps up antidumping actions

Abstract

The Trump administration is known for slapping tariffs on products from countries, like China, that it deems to be trading unfairly with the US. Less well known is its strict enforcement of laws against dumping—when a foreign company sells a product in the US at prices below its cost of production or home market rate. In the latest such action, the US Commerce Department has made a preliminary determination that acetone producers in Belgium, South Africa, and South Korea are dumping the chemical in the US. In response, the department is slapping duties on acetone from the accused companies ranging from 8 to 48%. Since the beginning of the Trump administration, the Commerce Department has initiated 182 antidumping and countervailing duty investigations—231% more than during the comparable period in the Obama administration, it says. Other imported chemicals recently subject to the department’s scrutiny include glycine, magnesium, polyester sheet and yarn,