On February 8, 2018 Beijing time, the US Department of Commerce finally ruled that Inner Mongolia Fufeng Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and its affiliates (collectively Fufeng Group) won the zero tariff rate in the third administrative review of the xanthan gum anti-dumping case. In the first and second reviews, the JT&N team on trading affairs had helped Fufeng Group win the zero tariff rate twice in a row. It is the same case with the third review.
In the final judgement issued on the same day, the US Department of Commerce ruled that the dumping margin of Fufeng Group was zero, that of Zibo Deosen Biochemical Co., Ltd. was 9.3%, that of enterprises subject to separate rates was 9.3%, and that of other Chinese enterprises was 154.07%.
The US anti-dumping investigation into xanthan gum imported from China stated in 2012. At that time, in response to the application made by CP Kelco, an US company, the US Department of Commerce officially launched the original investigation in July of the same year. In the final judgement issued in July 2013 for the original investigation, JT&N helped Fufeng Group win the lowest tariff rate among all other responding companies. In February 2017, the US Department of Commerce issued the final judgements for the first and second reviews, both of which granted Fufeng Group zero tariff rate, while the dumping margins of other Chinese companies ranged from 77.04% to 154.07%.
Since President Trump came to power, the U.S. government has vigorously pursued the U.S. first trade protectionism policy, and continued to identify China as a so-called non-market economy country during the anti-dumping investigation, artificially pushing up the tariff rate for Chinese respondents. Under such unfavorable conditions, it is not easy for a Chinese company like Fufeng Group to win zero tariff rate for a third time. After the above final zero rate judgement takes effect, Fufeng Group will continue to enjoy zero tariff rate in the US Customs. In other words, the xanthan gum products exported by Fufeng Group to the United States will not be subject to the payment of anti-dumping deposits, and those already paid for such products exported during the process of the third review will be refunded in full. The aforesaid success will help Fufeng Group further consolidate and expand the market share of its xanthan gum products in the United States.
For years in a row, JT&N has been authorized by Fufeng Group to act as its defense agent in the US xanthan gum anti-dumping case. This project was led by Senior Partner Chen Yang and participated by Senior Partner Zheng Xu as the lead attorney, Partner Yazhou Wu and lawyers Hao Liu and Jingjing Lin.