Bottom Mount Combination Refrigerator-Freezers from Korea and Mexico
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Bottom Mount Combination Refrigerator- Freezers from Korea and Mexico Investigation Nos. 701-TA-477 and 731-TA-1180-1181 (Final) Publication 4318 May 2012 U.S. International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 U.S. International Trade Commission COMMISSIONERS Deanna Tanner Okun, Chairman Irving A. Williamson, Vice Chairman Daniel R. Pearson Shara L. Aranoff Dean A. Pinkert David S. Johanson Robert B. Koopman Acting Director of Operations Staff assigned Christopher Cassise, Senior Investigator Ruben Mata, Industry Analyst John Benedetto, Economist Justin Jee, Accountant Karl von Schriltz, Attorney Mara Alexander, Statistician Jim McClure, Supervisory Investigator Address all communications to Secretary to the Commission United States International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 U.S. International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 www.usitc.gov Bottom Mount Combination Refrigerator- Freezers from Korea and Mexico Investigation Nos. 701-TA-477 and 731-TA-1180-1181 (Final) Publication 4318 May 2012 C O N T E N T S Page Determinations.................................................................. 1 Views of the Commission. ........................................................ 3 Part I: Introduction. ............................................................ I-1 Background.. ............................................................ I-1 Organization of report. ............................................... I-1 U.S. market summary. ............................................... I-2 Summary data and data sources. ............................................... I-3 Previous and related investigations. ............................................... I-3 Nature and extent of alleged sales at LTFV. ......................................... I-4 Nature of alleged countervailable subsidies. ......................................... I-5 The subject product. ........................................................... I-5 Commerce’s scope........................................................... I-5 Tariff treatment............................................................. I-6 Physical characteristics and uses................................................ I-7 Manufacturing process. ............................................... I-11 Product features............................................................. I-12 Domestic like product issues. ............................................... I-14 Top mount refrigerators vs. bottom mount refrigerators.. .......................... I-15 Side by Side refrigerators vs. bottom mount refrigerators. .......................... I-17 Part II: Conditions of competition in the U.S. market................................. II-1 U.S. market segments. ............................................... II-1 Channels of distribution. ............................................... II-3 Supply and demand considerations. ............................................... II-4 U.S. supply. ............................................................ II-4 U.S. demand. ............................................................ II-7 Substitutability issues. ............................................... II-12 Lead times. ............................................................ II-12 Factors affecting purchasing decisions. .......................................... II-13 Comparisons of domestic products, subject imports, and nonsubject imports. .......... II-17 Elasticity estimates. ............................................................ II-20 U.S. supply elasticity.. ............................................... II-20 U.S. demand elasticity.. ............................................... II-20 Substitution elasticity. ............................................... II-21 Part III: U.S. producers’ production, shipments, and employment. ..................... III-1 U.S. producers. ............................................................ III-1 U.S. capacity, production, and capacity utilization. ................................ III-2 U.S. producers’ U.S. shipments and export shipments. ................................ III-3 U.S. producers’ imports and purchases of imports..................................... III-3 U.S. producers’ inventories. ............................................... III-3 U.S. employment, wages, and productivity. ......................................... III-4 i C O N T E N T S Page Part IV: U.S. imports, apparent consumption, and market shares....................... IV-1 U.S. importers.. ............................................................ IV-1 U.S. imports. ............................................................ IV-2 Cumulation considerations....................................................... IV-3 Negligibility. ............................................................ IV-3 Critical circumstances........................................................... IV-4 Apparent U.S. consumption and market shares. ...................................... IV-5 Ratio of imports to U.S. production. ............................................... IV-6 Part V: Pricing and related information. ........................................... V-1 Factors affecting prices.. ............................................... V-1 Raw material costs.. ............................................... V-1 U.S. inland transportation costs.. ............................................... V-2 Transportation costs to the U.S. market. ......................................... V-2 Pricing practices. ............................................................ V-2 Pricing methods............................................................. V-2 Sales terms.. ............................................................ V-5 Direct and indirect discounts................................................... V-5 Price leaders............................................................... V-9 Price data.................................................................... V-9 Price data and discounts...................................................... V-11 Price trends and comparisons.................................................. V-12 Price comparisons. ............................................... V-17 Other data. ............................................................ V-18 Lost sales and lost revenues. ............................................... V-18 Part VI: Financial condition of U.S. producers....................................... VI-1 Background.. ............................................................ VI-1 Operations on bottom mount refrigerators. .......................................... VI-1 Capital expenditures and research and development expenses. .......................... VI-3 Assets and return on investment.. ............................................... VI-3 Capital and investment. ............................................... VI-3 Part VII: Threat considerations................................................... VII-1 The industry in Korea.. ............................................... VII-2 The industry in Mexico.. ............................................... VII-4 U.S. importers’ inventories.. ............................................... VII-7 U.S. importers’ current orders. ............................................... VII-7 Antidumping and countervailing duty orders in third-country markets. .................... VII-7 Information on producers in nonsubject countries. .................................... VII-7 ii Appendixes A. Federal Register notices....................................................... A-1 B. List of hearing witnesses. ............................................... B-1 C. Summary data.. ............................................................ C-1 D. Market studies of french door bottom mount refrigerators. .......................... D-1 E. CPI for major appliances and personal computers.. ................................ E-1 F. Other pricing data.. ........................................................... F-1 Note.--Information that would reveal confidential operations of individual concerns may not be published and therefore has been deleted from this report. Such deletions are indicated by asterisks. iii UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION Investigation Nos. 701-TA-477 and 731-TA-1180-1181 (Final) BOTTOM MOUNT COMBINATION REFRIGERATOR-FREEZERS FROM KOREA AND MEXICO DETERMINATIONS On the basis of the record1 developed in the subject investigations, the United States International Trade Commission (Commission) determines, 2pursuant to sections 705(b) and 735(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. '' 1671d(b) and 1673d(b)) (the Act), that an industry in the United States is not materially injured or threatened with material injury, and the establishment of an industry in the United States is not materially retarded, by reason of imports of bottom mount combination refrigerator-freezers from Korea, provided for in subheadings 8418.10.00, 8418.21.00, 8418.99.40, and 8418.99.80 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States, that the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) has determined are subsidized by the Government of Korea and sold in the United States at less than fair value (LTFV). The Commission further determines that an industry in the United States is not materially injured or threatened with material injury, and the establishment of an industry in the United States is not materially retarded, by reason of imports from Mexico of bottom mount combination refrigerator-freezers,