Minneapolis, MN, Oct. 09, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Cambria filed critical circumstances allegations with the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) and the International Trade Commission (“ITC”) to stop the surge of Chinese quartz surface products imports into the United States following Cambria’s April 2018 filing of antidumping (“AD”) and countervailing (“CVD”) duty petitions.
Imports of quartz surface products from China increased by 81% after Cambria filed its petitions at Commerce and ITC, greatly exceeding Commerce’s 15% threshold for supporting a finding of critical circumstances. Both Commerce and the ITC must make affirmative findings of critical circumstances for AD/CVD duties to be applied retroactively.
This news closely follows Commerce’s announcement that preliminary countervailing duties ranging from 34.38% to 178.45% would be imposed on quartz surface products from China. Commerce’s preliminary determination for the antidumping investigation and announcement of additional antidumping duties are due in November 2018.
An affirmative critical circumstances determination would apply the 34.38% to 178.45% countervailing duties to imports that entered the United States on or after June 23, 2018. If Commerce makes a preliminary antidumping determination, preliminary antidumping duties would be additionally due on imports that entered the United States on or after approximately August 15, 2018. These rates are in addition to the Section 301 tariffs announced by the United States, which took effect on September 24, 2018.
"Cambria is taking this action to stop China’s illegal attempts to flood the market before the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duty orders. Chinese producers and U.S. importers are on notice – substantial duties may be required for any quartz imports since June 2018,” said Marty Davis, President and CEO of Cambria. “We at Cambria and our partners in the industry will continue to stand together to fight back against the illegal efforts to use unfair and unlawful trade practices to exploit the U.S. market.”
Cambria’s petitions allege that the increase in Chinese imports has injured the domestic industry and threatens further damage if duties to offset China’s unfair trade practices are not imposed. Commerce is scheduled to issue preliminary antidumping determinations in November 2018. If both Commerce and the ITC both make final affirmative determinations in their investigations, final duties could be imposed in May or June 2019.
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About Cambria:
Cambria Company LLC, headquartered in Le Sueur, MN, is the leading domestic producer of quartz surface products. It is a family-owned, American-made company that employs more than 2,000 people across North America. For more information, visit www.CambriaUSA.com.