On September 10, China’s Ministry of Commerce issued its preliminary antidumping decision on certain monoalkyl ethers of ethylene glycol and propylene glycol / certain glycol ethers (乙二醇和丙二醇的单烷基醚) originating in the United States. It also announced applicable cash deposit rates ranging from 57.4 percent to 65.3 percent. The decision is open for comments for 10 days.

The preliminary ruling, Announcement No. 25 of 2021 (link in Chinese), found that imported glycol ethers originating in the United States are being dumped in China; the domestic industry has suffered substantial injury; and there is a causal relationship between dumping and injury.

In terms of the specific dumping margins, MOFCOM found dumping margins of 57.4 percent for imports from Dow Chemical Company and 65.3 percent for all other American companies, and applied cash deposit rates in those amounts.

The ruling will apply to glycol ether imports under the tariff codes 29094400 and 29094990. The products can be used as solvent agents, dispersants and dilutants, fuel antifreeze, or extractants. As an important material for organic synthesis, they are widely used in electronic chemicals, coating materials, pharmaceuticals and pesticides, and other chemical products.

The AD investigation was launched on August 31, 2020, and the deadline for completion has been extended once.

The petition claimed (link in Chinese) that the U.S. glycol ethers were dumped at a rate of 205.08 percent. The petition also claimed there are non-market conditions in the U.S. glycol ether market, as follows:

The cost of monoalkyl ethers of ethylene glycol and propylene glycol depends on the prices of the raw materials such as ethylene/ethylene oxide, propylene/propylene oxide. As important petrochemical raw materials, the prices of ethylene/ethylene oxide and propylene/propylene oxide are extremely closely related to the price of oil and natural gas. The U.S. oil and gas industry is under massive government intervention, and its production, supply and demand, as well as prices have all been severely distorted. This directly led to the price distortions of basic petrochemical raw materials including ethylene/ethylene oxide and propylene/propylene oxide. In addition, there are other problems in the U.S. market, such as price distortions of electricity and coal, manufacturers of the product under the investigation have the ability to manipulate raw material prices, and systematic distortion in the chemical product market. This means there are non-market conditions in the United States that distort the cost of monoalkyl ethers of ethylene glycol and propylene glycol.

Based on the specific facts and explanations provided below, the petitioner urges the investigating agency to investigate the non-market conditions, which would affect the calculation of the dumping margins, to ensure that the production cost and price data are not distorted by the market and are comparable.

MOFCOM conducted surveys on the non-market conditions during the investigation but did not rule on the issue in its preliminary decision.

There is an ongoing CVD investigation on the same products from the United States. MOFCOM may issue these findings soon.