Vista Chemical protests Quebec plant subsidies

Abstract

Vista Chemical has petitioned U.S. trade representative Mickey Kantor to intercede against plans by Quebec's government to subsidize new Canadian production of linear alkylbenzene (LAB). The International Chemical Workers Union has joined Vista in this action. Filed under section 409 (b) of the U.S.-Canada Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, Vista's petition asks Kantor to find that the U.S. LAB industry will face likely harm from subsidized Canadian LAB exports. Vista and Monsanto are the only major U.S. LAB producers. Vista's request is only the second such petition ever filed under the U.S.-Canada free trade pact, and the first during the Clinton Administration. The nonferrous metal industry filed the first petition. At issue is Canada's first LAB plant, a 220 million-lb-per-year plant in Becancour, Quebec, near Montreal; it is scheduled to come on stream in 1995. The Spanish company PetroquImica Espannola (Petresa), a major LAB producer, will own 51% of the venture, and Societe Generale de ...