Domestic Industry Withdraws Requests for CV Duties on MSG From China and Indonesia
A domestic producer of monosodium glutamate has withdrawn its requests for countervailing duty investigations on MSG from China and Indonesia. After a phone call with Commerce on March 6 in which a lawyer for AJINA notified Commerce the company no longer wanted to continue the case, AJINA formally withdrew its petitions for CV duty investigations in a letter sent the following day. The move came days after Commerce announced it found illegal subsidization of MSG producers in China, but no illegal subsidies in Indonesia. Meanwhile, a lawyer for AJINA said the company will still pursue antidumping duties on exports of MSG from China and Indonesia.
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The end of the investigations isn’t automatic -- Commerce still has to approve termination, according to lawyers associated with the case. “The Department’s regulations provide that the Secretary may terminate the investigation if the Secretary concludes that the termination is in the public interest,” said Joel Kaufman of Steptoe & Johnson, who represents Indonesian exporter PT Cheil Jedang Indonesia.
Requests to end investigations by domestic industry are very rare, and consequently procedures in these circumstances are not as clearly established as the well-worn paths followed in most AD/CVD investigations. According to Iain McPhie of Squire Sanders, who represents AJINA, Commerce will probably ask for input from the Chinese and Indonesian respondents to the investigation. The agency will then decide whether to end the investigation. The procedure could take a couple of weeks, said McPhie.
In this case, AJINA’s request to end the investigations is complicated by Commerce’s recent decision to impose CV duties on MSG from China. Commerce’s preliminary determinations, announced on March 5 (shortly before AJINA withdrew its petition), found no illegal subsidization of Indonesian exporters of MSG (see 14031017). But for China, Commerce found illegal subsidization and imposed CV duty cash deposit requirements on Chinese exporters ranging from 13.41% to 404.03% (see 14031015). Despite AJINA’s request to end the investigations, those CV duty cash deposit requirements look set to take effect March 11. CV duty cash deposits will be required for all entries on or after Dec. 11. When investigations are terminated for other reasons, like a negative injury determination from the International Trade Commission, any cash deposits collected are refunded to importers.
Counsel for AJINA said the company still intends to continue its antidumping duty investigations on MSG from China and Indonesia. “Although we have withdrawn the CVD petitions, we intend to aggressively pursue the antidumping cases to their conclusion,” said McPhie. “The information gathered thus far shows strong evidence of significant dumping of MSG from China and Indonesia.”
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of AJINA’s withdrawal request.