Chinese Exporters Challenge AD Investigation on Pentafluoroethane From China

Three Chinese exporters -- Zhejiang Sanmei Chemical Ind. Co., Shandong Dongyue Chemical Co. and Huantai Dongyue International Trade Co. -- filed a complaint on May 4 at the Court of International Trade to contest the antidumping duty investigation on pentafluoroethane (R-125) from China. The nine-count complaint airs out the exporters' issues with alleged ministerial errors committed in the investigation that led to a large 277.95% dumping margin for the exporters (Zhejiang Sanmei Chemical Ind. Co. v. United States, CIT #22-00103).

In the investigation, Zhejiang Sanmei served as a mandatory respondent while Shandong Dongyue and Huantai Dongyue served as separate-rate respondents. After the preliminary determination, Zhejiang Sanmei filed ministerial error allegations, which Commerce found didn't constitute a significant error. Nevertheless, the agency agreed with the respondent and removed steam as an energy input from the calculation of normal value and revised the distance used in calculations to account for movement expenses incurred on shipping inputs from the respondent to its affiliate processor Fujian Qingliu, the complaint said.

However, errors remained in the decision, according to the exporters. For instance, Commerce calculated a separate surrogate inland trucking freight factor for exports and imports by calculating a simple average of applicable Russian intra-city tracking rates with Russian long-distance trucking rates. Seeing as Zhejiang Sanmei did not use intra-city trucking rates, their inclusion in this calculation is an error committed by Commerce, the respondent said.

Further, the exporters took issue with Commerce's use of a 2018 surrogate financial statement to calculate financial ratios rather than a 2020 financial statement contemporaneous with the investigation period. While Commerce questioned the translation accuracy of the 2020 statement, the auditor's notes assuaged concerns and affirmed the translation's accuracy, the brief said.

The exporters also challenged Commerce's used of AFA to find the China-wide entity. The agency said that the 278.05% (used for the China-wide entity) was the highest transaction-specific rate calculated for Zhejiang Sanmei in the final determination. "Commerce's statement, however, was factually incorrect," the brief said. "The stated 278.05% margin was not the highest transaction-specific rate calculated for Zhejiang Sanmei in the final determination. In Zhejiang Sanmei’s Letter dated January 7, 2022, which alleged ministerial errors in the final determination., Zhejiang Sanmei identified an antidumping margin in the final SAS program that was equal to 428.91%."