China Moves to Raise Costs of U.S. Imports of Key Chemical

China is moving to make it more expensive for U.S. shipments of a key industrial chemical to enter the Chinese market, shortly after Washington called for higher tariffs on Chinese steel.

China’s commerce ministry announced the move on Friday, saying an anti-dumping probe had found that cheap imports of propionic acid from the U.S. had harmed the local chemical industry.

Importers who want to bring the chemical over from the U.S. will be required to pay an additional fee to Chinese customs. The tariff-like measure would effectively raise the costs for such imports.

The world’s second-largest economy is one of the top consumers of propionic acid, a lot of which has typically come from the U.S.

Propionic acid is a fine chemical product used mainly to make preservatives, antifungal agents, herbicides and pharmaceutical intermediates. It is used in a wide range of sectors, from food to animal feed, pesticides and medicine, according to the ministry.

Friday’s decision brings to an end an anti-dumping probe launched in July last year that had been expected to last for up to one year. It comes shortly after President Biden called for raising tariffs on imports of Chinese steel and after his trade negotiators launched a probe into China’s shipbuilding industry, citing unfair practices.

Source: Valor Econômico

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