U.S. to impose duties on HFC blends from China

The domestic fluorochemicals industry is being harmed by underpriced imports of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerant blends from China, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) says in a final determination. As a result, the Commerce Department will issue an antidumping order that will impose duties on the Chinese imports, retroactive to Feb. 1, 2016. The department had previously found that the products were being sold in the U.S. at less than their fair value. The inquiry began in response to a petition from the American HFC Coalition, which represents refrigerant suppliers such as Honeywell International, Hudson Technologies, and Mexichem Fluor. The coalition says Chinese imports of HFC blends jumped by 80% from 2012 to 2014 and continued to increase after the antidumping petition was filed. In a related decision, ITC determined the U.S. HFC industry is not being harmed by imports from China of three chemicals that are components of the blends—HFC-32, HFC-125, and HFC-143a. Consequently, no duties will be imposed on the components.