The International Trade Commission on Tuesday voted to uphold new tariffs on imports of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) from China and India, after commissioners determined imports have undercut domestic products.
The decision means duties Commerce unveiled earlier this month will stand. Indian products face countervailing duties of between 5.29% and 6.32% and antidumping duties as high as 20%, in some cases.
Further, one Chinese company will face antidumping duties of more than 120% and all will face countervailing duties of between 26.50% and 169.63%.
Corteva Agriscience, the only U.S. 2,4-D manufacturer, petitioned Commerce last year to investigate whether both countries’ exporters are benefitting from government subsidies and selling their product below fair market prices.
“We saw large-scale capacity increases in China and India, first right before the COVID period, then again immediately after. Then, prices plummeted starting in 2023. Not just low, but first below our costs, then below our variable costs, then below our raw material costs,” Cynthia Ericson, Corteva’s vice president of its weed control segment, said at an ITC hearing earlier this month.
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“We simply cannot complete at price levels below our raw material costs,” Ericson added.
Commodity groups have charged, however, that the company does not have sufficient capacity to meet U.S. 2,4-D demand and that new duties would mean higher prices for U.S. farmers.
“The announcement of these final duties on imports is disappointing to soybean growers across the country who depend on imports of generic 2,4-D,” Caleb Ragland, president of the American Soybean Association, said in a statement Tuesday.
“For soybean farmers, times are already tough. Production costs are nearing record highs,” Ragland added. “New duties on 2,4-D would make things even harder.”
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