The US International Trade Commission on November 2, 2018 ruled against putting an anti-dumping duty on the import of a synthetic fluoropolymer from India and China. The fluoropolymer is a key ingredient in the non-stick coating for pans and other cookware.

The US International Trade Commission (USITC) noted in its ruling that polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE resin from India and China were sold in the US at less than fair value. 

Key Highlights

• The USITC announced that no antidumping duty orders will be issued on the imports of PTFE resin from China and India, as a result of its negative determinations.

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

• The counsel, while underscoring that the threshold for injury determination at USITC is very low, said that the federal American body generally sides with the US domestic industry.

• He said that given the extremely paltry success rate of foreign exporters in USITC proceedings, this exceptional victory of Indian PTFE exporters is all the more notable.

• The decision is expected to serve as a springboard for the Indian PTFE exporters to cement their position in the US market. 

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

• In addition, the Indian PTFE exporters would also have been imperilled by a costly and time-consuming annual cycle of administrative review of the anti-dumping order.