New Trade Case on Imports of Methionine from France, Japan, and Spain

A new U.S. antidumping (“AD”) petition was filed on July 28, 2020, by Novus International, Inc. against imports of methionine from France, Japan, and Spain.

The merchandise covered by this Petition includes Methionine, an amino acid with the chemical name of 2-amino-4-(methylmercapto)-butyric acid. Methionine is one of the essential sulfur-containing amino acids that must be supplied in the diets of animals and is used in the synthesis of protein. Please see the scope section below for a full review of subject merchandise.

The petition includes AD (less than fair value) allegations against France, Japan, and Spain. The Department of Commerce (“DOC”) and the International Trade Commission (“ITC”) will conduct the investigations.  Within the next 45 days, the ITC will determine if there is a reasonable indication that the imports are injuring the U.S. industry. If the ITC finds that standard is met, then the cases will move to the DOC which will calculate the preliminary AD duty margins.

The DOC’s preliminary determinations are currently scheduled for January 4, 2021, which is the date when importers will be required to deposit the calculated duties upon the products’ entry in the U.S. market.

There are strict statutory deadlines associated with these proceedings and affected companies are advised to prepare as soon as possible. If this product is of interest to you, please let us know so that we can provide you with additional information as it becomes available.

The following are key facts about this trade case:

Petitioners: Novus International, Inc.

Foreign Producers/Exporters and US Importers: Please contact us for a listing of individual companies named in the petition.

AD margins: Petitioners have alleged the following AD margins:

• France: a calculated AD margin of 17.34 percent ad valorem;
• Japan: a calculated AD margin of 103.31 percent ad valorem; and
• Spain: a calculated AD margin of 36.43 percent ad valorem.

Merchandise covered by the scope of the case:

The merchandise covered by this investigation is methionine and precursors to methionine, including dl-Hydroxy analogue of dl-methionine, also known as 2-Hydroxy 4-(Methylthio) Butanoic acid (HMTBa), regardless of purity, particle size, grade, or physical form. Methionine has the chemical formula C₅H₁₁NO₂S, liquid HMTBa has the chemical formula C₅H₁₀O₃S, and dry HMTBa has the chemical formula C₆H₉CaO₅S.

Subject merchandise also includes methionine processed in a third country including, but not limited to, refining or any other processing that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of this investigation if performed in the country of manufacture of the in-scope methionine or precursors of methionine.

Methionine that is otherwise subject to this investigation is not excluded when commingled (i.e., mixed or combined) with methionine from sources not subject to this investigation. Only the subject component of such commingled products is covered by the scope of these investigations.

Methionine is currently classified under subheadings 2930.40.00.00 and 2930.90.46.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Methionine has the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) registry numbers 583-91-5, 4857-44-7, 59-51-8, and 922-50-9. While the HTSUS subheadings and CAS registry number are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this investigation is dispositive.

If you have any questions regarding the content of this alert, please contact Mark Ludwikowski (mludwikowski@clarkhill.com; 202-640-6680), Kevin Williams (kwilliams@clarkhill.com; 312-985-5907); William Sjoberg (wsjoberg@clarkhill.com; 202-772-0924), Courtney Gayle Taylor (cgtaylor@clarkhill.com; 202-552-2350); Dennis Devaney (ddevaney@clarkhill.com); or another member of Clark Hill's International Trade Business Unit.