The U.S. Department of Commerce published the final results of its first expedited sunset reviews of antidumping duty orders on methionine from France, Japan and Spain on October 5. Commerce concluded that revoking the measures would likely result in the continuation or recurrence of dumping, with weighted-average margins likely to prevail of up to 43.82% for France, 76.50% for Japan and 37.53% for Spain.
Those figures are not newly announced across-the-board tariff rates. They represent Commerce's assessment of the dumping margins that could prevail if the existing orders were removed. The French antidumping order has been in force since July 13, 2021, while the orders covering Japan and Spain took effect on September 14, 2021.
U.S. methionine producer Novus International participated in all three reviews, filing notices of intent on June 15 and substantive responses on July 1. Commerce received no substantive responses from respondent interested parties and therefore proceeded with expedited 120-day sunset reviews.
Methionine is a major amino acid used in animal nutrition, particularly in poultry, swine and aquaculture feed formulations. It is added to feed to balance amino-acid content and is one of the largest-volume specialty ingredients in the global animal nutrition market. International supply is concentrated among a relatively small group of producers across the United States, Europe and Asia.
The reviews do not recalculate a single new cash-deposit rate for every exporter. Instead, Commerce evaluates whether historical dumping is likely to return if trade protection is removed and determines the magnitude of dumping likely to prevail under that scenario.
The U.S. International Trade Commission is conducting the corresponding injury reviews. Its process considers whether removing the orders would likely lead to renewed material injury to the U.S. industry, meaning Commerce's October 5 findings represent one component of the broader five-year review process.
