USITC Affirms Chinese Quartz Antidumping & Countervailing Duties, Not Retroactive

Today, June 11, 2019, the United States International Trade Commission (USITC)  determined that the U.S. quartz surfacing industry was materially injured by reason of imports of quartz surface products from China that the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) has determined are subsidized and dumped on the U.S. market at less than fair value.

However, the USITC also made a negative finding concerning critical circumstances with regard to imports of these products from China.  As a result, imports of quartz surface products from China made prior to the initial finding will not be subject to retroactive antidumping or countervailing duties. This is a critical element, as numerous businesses could have been subject to millions in fees dating back 90 before a ruling was issued, which may have driving many businesses under.

Chairman David S. Johanson and Commissioners Irving A. Williamson, Meredith M. Broadbent, Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, and Jason E. Kearns voted in the affirmative.

As a result of the USITC’s affirmative determinations, Commerce will issue final antidumping and countervailing duty orders on imports of this quartz surfacing from China on June 24. Importers of these products could be liable for antidumping duties of up to 265.81 to 333.69 percent and countervailing duties of up to 45.32 to 190.99 percent, which were the preliminary amounts. However, it is possible the final duty determinations by the Department of Commerce on June 24 may be lower than the preliminary duties.

These fees are in addition to the 25 percent tariffs put on Chinese quartz products by President Trump.

The Commission’s full public report Quartz Surface Products from China (Inv. Nos. 701-TA-606 and 731-TA-1416 (Final), USITC Publication 4913, June 2019) will be issued on or about July 18 and will be available on the USITC website at: https://www.usitc.gov/commission_publications_library. It will contain the views of the USITC and information developed during the investigations.

Importers should also be aware that some crushed glass surface products may now be included in the scope. Under a revised exclusion for such products, only those that meet each of the following criteria will not be subject to the duties: 1) the crushed glass content is greater than any other single material by actual weight; 2) there are pieces of crushed glass visible across the surface of the product; 3) at least some of these pieces are larger than one centimeter wide; and 4) the distance between any single glass piece and the closest separate glass piece does not exceed 3 in.

The full press release issued by the USITC regarding the affirmative Chinese quartz dumping and countervailing duties ruling can be found here.