The U.S. International Trade Commission is investigating a complaint of the dumping of the feedstock MDI from China on the U.S. market.
This follows a petition from the Ad Hoc MDI Fair Trade Coalition asking for antidumping duties to be imposed on U.S. MDI imports from China. It alleges dumping margins of 306 percent to 507 percent.
The coalition includes BASF Corp. and Dow Inc. Both companies manufacture MDI on the Gulf Coast. BASF broke ground on the third phase of an expansion of its 600,000-metric-ton MDI plant in Geismar, La., in 2023. Dow opened a new MDI distillation and prepolymers facility at its Freeport, Texas, site later the same year.
The petition covers MDI in all physical forms, but not mixtures where the combined MDI component comprises less than 40 percent of the total weight, or partially reacted MDI when the isocyanate content is below 10 percent by weight. Only the MDI portion of a system is included in the scope of the petition. MDI from China that has been processed in a third country is included.
According to the petition, MDI is manufactured in China by BASF, Covestro, Shanghai Lianheng Isocyanate and Wanhua. It names Wanhua Chemical Ningbo, Wanhua Chemical (Singapore), Shandong Mingko Industry, Healthcare Co. and Behai Xinli Trade I&E as exporters of the product to the U.S. It also identified 10 entities who imported Chinese MDI into the U.S. in 2024.
In 2024, the U.S. imported about 229,000 tonnes of MDI from China. This is currently subject to a 35 percent tariff, with an additional 10 percent being imposed at the start of February on top of the 25 percent introduced in May 2019. Very little MDI goes in the other direction, where it faces a 25 percent tariff plus the regular 6.5 percent import duty.
The investigation is slated to begin in early March. It will look at imports into the country during the second half of 2024.