ITAC imposes anti-dumping duty on soda ash imports from US

25 Jun '14

2 min read

The International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) of South Africa has imposed anti-dumping duties ranging between 8 percent and 40 percent on all imports of soda ash from the US into the South African Customs Union (SACU), consisting of Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa, and Swaziland, reports BD Live.

The imposition of import duty on soda ash from the US follows an ITAC investigation which found evidence of dumping by American manufacturers.

The investigation was conducted at the request of the Botswana Government, which filed an application on behalf of Botswana Ash (Botash), the lone producer of soda ash in the SACU region.

In its investigation, ITAC found prima facie evidence of dumping and imposed an eight percent anti-dumping duty on US manufacturer Tata Chemicals and 21 percent duty on OCI Chemical Corporation.

All other US’ manufacturers and exporters of soda ash would attract an anti-dumping duty of 40 percent, according to the report.

South African Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies has accepted ITAC’s recommendation to impose anti-dumping duties on soda ash imports from the US into the SACU region.

Soda ash is used in dyeing cotton and other cellulose fibres such as linen, rayon, tencel or hemp, to increase the pH (alkalinity) of the reaction. The ideal pH depends on the fibre and the individual dye colour. Soda ash changes the pH of the fibre-reactive dye and cellulose fibre so that the dye reacts with the fibre, making a permanent attachment that holds the dye to the fibre.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India