Investigation Finds US Methionine Industry Harmed by Imports

SAINT CHARLES, MO (September 14, 2020) – The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) shared its preliminary determination on September 11 that there is reasonable indication that the U.S. methionine industry has been materially injured by imports sold by the three countries at less than fair value.

The ITC’s unanimous decision to proceed follows investigation by the agency in response to antidumping petitions that Novus filed on July 29 requesting that the ITC and the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) formally investigate methionine imports from the countries of France, Spain and Japan consistent with the World Trade Organization Antidumping Agreement. The petitions include information regarding the increase in methionine imports from 2017-2019 that led to substantial price depression and harm to the domestic methionine industry. Dumping, as an illegal activity, is taken seriously by the international trade community and governments have processes in place to ensure proper investigations occur.

“Fair and competitive trade practices are critical to the health of our industry,” said Ed Galo, Novus vice president and chief commercial officer – Americas. “This decision shows that the evidence Novus presented is worth investigating further to ensure the domestic industry is protected from unfair trade practices.”

With ITC’s decision to proceed, Commerce will move forward in investigating if France, Spain and Japan have dumped methionine in the U.S. Commerce is expected to announce its preliminary determinations in January 2021. If affirmative, a final determination should be announced by July 2021. This timeline may adjust depending on the course of the investigations.

The final phase of ITC’s investigation is expected to begin around March 2021 and will conclude with its final determination regarding the injury or threat of injury to the U.S. methionine industry from unfairly traded methionine imports. If the ITC reaches a final determination that low-priced methionine imports have caused injury to the domestic industry, and if Commerce does determine that France, Spain and Japan illegally dumped foreign products, importers from those countries may have to pay a duty on methionine imports, which would be collected by the government as a tax.

Click here to read the ITC’s release regarding this decision.