The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on July 18 determined that the U.S. UAN industry is not materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of imports of UAN from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago that the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has determined are subsidized and sold in the U.S. at less than fair value (GM June 24, p. 1).
The vote was unanimous. Chairman David S. Johanson and Commissioners Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, Jason E. Kearns, Randolph J. Stayin, and Amy A. Karpel voted in the negative.
ITC said that as a result of the negative determinations, DOC will not issue countervailing duty orders and antidumping duty orders on imports of this product from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago.
“This comes as a welcome relief,” said National Corn Growers Association (NGCA) President Chris Edgington. “We have been sounding the alarms and telling the ITC Commissioners that tariffs will drive up input prices to even more unaffordable levels for farmers and cripple our supply. I am so glad they listened.”
In addition to NGCA, other ag trade groups, including the Agricultural Retailers Association, Russian and Trinidad producers, U.S. importers and marketers, and several Members of Congress, sought a negative vote, citing record high fertilizer prices, UAN producer profits, and industry consolidation.
“We are disappointed that the International Trade Commission has determined the U.S. UAN industry has not been harmed by the unfair trade practices from state-subsidized entities underpinning UAN imports from Russia and Trinidad that were clearly established through thorough and impartial investigations by the U.S. government,” said Tony Will, CF President and CEO.
“Unfortunately, this outcome will perpetuate an unlevel playing field for a domestic industry that has invested billions of dollars in the U.S. to ensure American farmers have a reliable source of UAN fertilizer,” he added.
CF reiterated that DOC’s June decision found that imports from Russia are dumped (i.e., sold at less than fair value) at rates ranging from 8.16%-122.93%, and unfairly subsidized at rates ranging from 6.27%-9.66%. In addition, it noted that DOC found that imports from Trinidad are dumped at a rate of 111.71% and unfairly subsidized at a rate of 1.83%.
The ruling sent CF shares tumbling as much as 4.9% in New York on July 18. However, the downward momentum was only temporary, and shares were back up for the July 19 close. CF filed the petition for the U.S. to impose duties in June 2021 (GM July 2, 2021).
The Commission’s public report Urea Ammonium Nitrate Solutions from Russia and Trinidad and Tobago [Inv. Nos. 701-TA-668-669 and 731-TA-1565-1566 (Final), USITC Publication 5338, August 2022] will contain the views of the Commission and information developed during the investigations. The report will be available by Aug. 22, 2022; when available, it may be accessed on the USITC website at http://pubapps.usitc.gov/applications/publogs/qry_publication_loglist.asp.
In the meantime, ITC’s 2021 decision (GM April 23, 2021; March 12, 2021) to allow duties on phosphate imports from Russia and Morocco is currently on appeal with the Court of International Trade (GM July 1, p. 1).