The Commerce Department initiated the antidumping investigation after receiving a petition March 28 from three companies.
The Commerce Department has begun an antidumping investigation of Canadian sodium sulfate anhydrous imports into the U.S. to determine if they are being dumped on the market at less than fair value.
The investigation was announced Thursday and is based on a petition filed March 28 by Cooper Natural Resources Inc., Elementis Global LLC and Searles Valley Minerals Inc. The alleged dumping margins range from 43.37 percent to 170.08 percent.
Imports of Canadian sodium sulfate anhydrous were valued at $5.7 million in 2018, according to the Commerce Department.
Sodium sulfate that is anhydrous (containing no water), regardless of purity, grade, color, production method and form of packaging, in which the percentage of particles between 20 mesh and 100 mesh ranges between 10 percent to 95 percent and the percentage of particles finer than 100 mesh ranges from 5 percent to 90 percent is covered in the investigation.
The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) also will conduct its own investigation into whether the U.S. industry and its workforce are harmed by such imports while the Commerce Department conducts its investigation. The ITC is expected to make its preliminary determination by May 13.
If the ITC preliminarily determines there is an injury or threat to injury, Commerce’s investigation will continue with the preliminary determination scheduled for Sept. 4. Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to start collecting cash deposits from all U.S. companies importing sodium sulfate anhydrous from Canada if the department preliminarily finds dumping is occurring.
A final determination by the Commerce Department is scheduled for Nov. 18. If the department finds the products are not being dumped, or the ITC finds in its initial investigation there is no harm to the American industry, the investigation will be terminated with no duties applied.
Commerce has initiated 158 new antidumping and countervailing duty investigations under the Trump administration, which is a 285 percent increase from the comparable period under the Obama administration, the department said in the statement announcing the investigation.