U.S. poised to slaps duties on HFC blends from China

The U.S. has taken the first of two steps toward imposing antidumping duties on imports of hydrofluorcarbon-410A and other HFC blends from China. The Commerce Department determined that the refrigerants are being sold in the U.S. at less than their fair value. The investigation began a year ago in response to a petition filed by the American HFC Coalition, which represents refrigerant suppliers such as Chemours, Honeywell International, Hudson Technologies, and Mexichem Fluor. The coalition says that Chinese imports of HFC blends jumped by 80% from 2012 to 2014, and continued to increase after the antidumping petition was filed. “As a result, U.S. manufacturers are losing market share and prices are rapidly falling,” the coalition says. The duties will take effect if the U.S. International Trade Commission takes the second step by finalizing its August 2015 preliminary finding that the Chinese imports are damaging the U.S. fluorochemicals industry. That decision is due on Aug. 1. The U.S. is also separately considering duties on HFC-134a from China.