An Introduction to the U.S. Trade Remedies Law for U.S. Coating and Sealant Manufacturers

For U.S. coating and sealant manufacturers who have been harmed by competition with low-priced imports, the U.S. trade remedies laws can provide meaningful relief. This article will provide an introduction to two specific trade remedy laws – those concerning (1) antidumping and (2) countervailing duty investigations. Relief from these trade investigations can protect U.S. production operations, profits and employees.

Under the antidumping (AD) statute, members of a particular domestic industry may petition the U.S. government to investigate imports of similar foreign goods and to impose compensating duties where two threshold requirements are met: (1) the imports are sold in the United States at less than fair value; and (2) the low-priced imports are a cause of (or threaten) material injury to the domestic industry. In a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation, the U.S. government must determine: (1) whether imports are being subsidized by the government of the exporting country; and (2) whether the subsidized imports are a cause of (or threaten) material injury to the domestic industry.