The U.S. Department of Commerce formally issued antidumping and countervailing duty orders on animal-feed-grade L-lysine from China on September 16, following affirmative findings by Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission. The orders took effect the same day and require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to apply cash-deposit requirements to covered imports according to the applicable producer and exporter rates.
The scope reaches well beyond standard lysine hydrochloride.
Commerce said the orders cover lysine HCl, lysine sulfate, liquid lysine and coated or encapsulated lysine used in ruminant feed. Animal-feed-grade lysine incorporated into mixes, premixes, concentrates or other combined products is also covered, although only the lysine component falls within the orders.
Antidumping cash-deposit rates vary significantly depending on the producer-exporter combination.
Several combinations received an adjusted cash-deposit rate of 73.37%, while others were assigned 139.65%. The China-wide cash-deposit rate is also 139.65%.
The countervailing-duty side of the case carries another layer of duties.
Commerce determined a 48.21% subsidy rate for Inner Mongolia Eppen Biotech Co. Ltd., while Heilongjiang Wanli Runda Biotechnology Co., Ltd. and Shouguang Golden-land Industry & Trading Co Ltd. received rates of 82.11%. The “all others” rate was set at 48.21%.
Some of the higher rates were based on adverse facts available, a mechanism Commerce can use when it determines that requested information was not adequately provided during an investigation.
The case was brought by the Lysine Fair Trade Coalition, whose members include Archer Daniels Midland Company, CJ Bio America and Evonik Corporation.
Commerce launched the investigations in June 2025 and announced final affirmative dumping and subsidy determinations in July 2026. The process moved to its final stage after the U.S. International Trade Commission found that the domestic industry was materially injured by imports of Chinese L-lysine sold at less than fair value and benefiting from countervailable subsidies.
Chinese shipments had expanded sharply before the case reached the order stage.
Commerce data showed U.S. imports of lysine from China rising from approximately 29.1 million kilograms in 2022 to 56.1 million kilograms in 2023 and 77.9 million kilograms in 2024. The reported value of those imports reached approximately USD 95.95 million in 2024.
The September 16 orders also cover certain merchandise processed in third countries. Lysine that is commingled, diluted, refined, converted between liquid and dry forms, coated or encapsulated outside China may remain subject to the measures when that processing does not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope.
