New AD/CV Duties Requested on Sodium Nitrite From India, Russia

A U.S. producer seeks the imposition of new antidumping and countervailing duties on sodium nitrite from India and Russia, it said in petitions recently filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations, which could result in the imposition of permanent AD/CV duty orders and the assessment of AD and CV duties on importers.

Existing AD/CVD orders have been in place on sodium nitrite from China and Germany since 2008. The scope of these investigations is the same as the scope of the China and Germany orders.

Proposed Scope

The petition proposes the following scope for the investigations:

The product covered by the requested antidumping and countervailing duty orders is sodium nitrite in any form, at any purity level. In addition, the sodium nitrite covered by these investigations may or may not contain an anti-caking agent. Examples of names commonly used to reference sodium nitrite are nitrous acid, sodium salt, anti-rust, diazotizing salts, erinitrit, and filmerine. Sodium nitrite’s chemical composition is NaNO2, and it is generally classified under subheading 2834.10.1000 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (“HTSUS”). The American Chemical Society Chemical Abstract Service (“CAS”) has assigned the name “sodium nitrite” to sodium nitrite. The CAS registry number is 7632-00-0. For purposes of the scope of these investigations, the narrative description is dispositive, not the tariff heading, CAS registry number or CAS name, which are provided for convenience and customs purposes.

Commerce Accepting Comments on Petition Support

The Commerce Department is accepting comments on domestic industry support for the petitions to determine whether the petitions meet the dual requirements of support by domestic producers or workers accounting for (1) at least 25% of the total production of the domestic-like product and (2) more than 50% of the production of the domestic-like product produced by that portion of the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, the petition. If the petitions meet these requirements, among others, Commerce will initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. Commerce has yet to set a due date for comments.