WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said on Wednesday it found that tool chests imported from China harm U.S. producers, paving the way for the Commerce Department to keep anti-subsidy and anti-dumping duties on Chinese exporters for five years.
The case was brought by Waterloo Industries Inc of Sedalia, Missouri, a subsidiary of Fortune Brands Home & Security Inc (N:FBHS), which says it accounts for more than one-half of domestic production of tool chests and cabinets.
In 2016, the value of imports of tool chests from China totalled $990 million, Commerce Department data show.
On Nov. 22, the Commerce Department calculated final countervailing or anti-subsidy duty rates of 15.09 percent for Jiangsu Tongrun Equipment Technology Co Ltd (SZ:002150), 14.03 percent for Zhongshan Geelong Manufacturing Co Ltd, and 14.39 percent for all other producers or exporters in China that responded to its inquiries.
Companies that did not respond to the department's questionnaire were assigned a final subsidy rate of 95.96 percent.
In a separate anti-dumping investigation, the Commerce Department said on Nov. 13 it had made a preliminary finding that certain companies from China were selling tool chests on the U.S. market at 90.40 percent to 168.93 percent below fair value.
As part of that same finding, the department calculated a preliminary anti-dumping rate of 230.31 percent for Vietnam's Clearwater Metal Single Entity.