Washington-The Department of Commerce’s (DOC) International Trade Administration last week issued a countervailing duty order on certain potassium phosphate salts from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The order was based on affirmative final determinations made by the DOC and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) in June (GM June 7, p. 10) that the PRC was providing countervailable subsidies to producers and exporters of the subject merchandise during a specific period of investigation, and that this merchandise is likely to be sold in the U.S. at less than fair market value. The investigation determined a subsidy rate of 109.11 percent ad valorem for PRC producer/exporters, and percentage weighted-average margins of 69.58 percent and 95.4 percent. In a Federal Register notice last week, the department said it had been notified by the ITC on July 15 that an industry in the U.S. “is materially injured as a result of subsidized imports of phosphate sales from the PRC.” The notice specifies two domestic products – Dipotassium Phosphate (DKP) and Tetrapotassium Pyrophosphate (TKPP) – that are covered by the scope of the order and suffered material injury, while a third product – Monopotassium Phosphate (MKP) – was found to be outside of the order, and therefore received a negative determination by the ITC. As a result, no countervailing duty order can be issued on imports of MKP from the PRC, the notice said. Because the ITC determined that imports of DKP and TKPP from the PRC are materially injuring a U.S. industry, however, the notice said all unliquidated entries of those potassium phosphate salts from the PRC, entered or withdrawn from warehouse, are subject to the assessment of countervailing duties.
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