Sodium Nitrite: New AD/CVD Investigations Deadlines & Scope

The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on sodium nitrite from India (A-533-906/C-533-907) and Russia (A-821-836/C-821-837). The agency will determine whether imports of sodium nitrite are being sold in the U.S. at less than fair value or are illegally subsidized.

The AD/CV duty investigations cover entries Jan. 1, 2021, through Dec. 31, 2021.

The International Trade Commission will conduct a concurrent investigation to determine whether imports of dumped and illegally subsidized sodium nitrite from India and Russia are injuring U.S. industry. If the ITC finds no injury in its preliminary injury determinations, due Feb. 28 for both the AD and the CV investigations, the investigations will immediately end. If Commerce finds dumping or illegal subsidization in the preliminary determinations of these investigations, due April 8 for CV duties and June 22 for AD duties, it will set AD and/or CV duty cash deposit requirements for imports of merchandise subject to the investigation. If both Commerce and the ITC reach affirmative final determinations, Commerce will issue an AD and/or CV duty order making duties permanent and beginning a process of annual administrative reviews to set final assessments of AD/CV duties on importers and potentially change AD/CV duty cash deposit rates.

AD/CVD Respondent Selection

Commerce will in the AD/CV duty investigations on Russia examine the only known producer of subject merchandise, UralChem, JSC. For its India investigations, Commerce will base respondent selection on CBP import data. Comments on respondent selection are due Feb. 11.

Scope of the AD/CVD Investigations

The product covered by these investigations 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 anticaking 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.

Participants in the AD/CVD investigations may submit comments on product coverage under the scope of the investigations. Comments on the scope are due by 5 p.m. EDT on Feb. 22.

Investigations Timetable

These deadlines may be, and usually are, extended. The Commerce Department fact sheet on the initiation of these investigations is (here). See 2201180052 for a summary of the petition requesting these investigations.