United States Court of International Trade

ITC Decision on Hydrofluorocarbons Remanded in Part

In Arkema Inc., The Chemours Company FC, LLC, Honeywell International Inc. v. United States, Court No. 16-179, Slip Op. 18-12 (Feburary 16, 2018), the court remanded in part the material injury determination of the International Trade Commission.  This action involved the final affirmative material injury determination of the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC” or the “Commission”) in the antidumping duty investigation covering hydrofluorocarbon (“HFC”) blends and components from the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). See Hydrofluorocarbon Blends and Components from China, 81 Fed. Reg. 53,157 (Int’l Trade Comm’n Aug. 11, 2016) (“Final Determination”). The court agreed with plaintiffs that it appears that the ITC incorrectly relied upon the X percent figure as the approximate percentage of HFC Components used in out-of-scope blends, and that this figure weighed significantly in the ITC’s finding that HFC Components are not dedicated for use in the production of HFC Blends. The court also agreed that in comparing the HFC blends to HFC components the ITC wrongly relied upon value added data that included costs and expenses used in the manufacture of HFC components rather than the blending of the components into Blends.

However, on all other decisions, the court sustained the ITC’s findings.  Thus, the Final Determination was sustained except for the ITC’s dedicated for use and value added portions of its semi-finished products analysis.