AMMONIUM PARATUNGSTATEAND. · TUNG.STIC ACID F·ROM THE . PEOPL~S ·REPUBLIC· OF CHINA Report to the President on Investigation No. TA-408-11 Under Section 406 of the Trade Act of 1974 USITC PUBLICATION ·1982 JUNE 1987 United States International Trade Commission I Washington, DC 20436 UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION COMMISSIONERS Susan Liebeler, Chairman Anne E. Brunsdale, Vice Chairman Alfred E. Eckes Seeley G. Lodwick David B.. Rohr Staff Assigned Rebecca Woodings, Office of Investigations Jack Greenblatt, Office of Industries Elizabeth Henning, Office of Economics Chandrakant Mehta, Office of Investigations Edwin Madaj,· Office of the General Counsel Robert Carpenter, Supervisory Investigator· Address all communications to .. (:..,, - Kenneth R. Mason, Secretary to the Commission United States International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 i C 0 N T E N T S Determination-----7---~--------------------------------------------------- 1 Vtews of Commissioners Eckes, Lodwick, and Rohr--------------------------­ 3 Views of Chairman Liebeler and Vice Chairman Brunsdale-------------------­ 23 Information obtained in the investigation: ,Introduction---------------------------------------------------------­ A-1 Background- -------- -·- ------------------------------------------------- A-1 The products: Description and uses---------------------------------------------­ A-2 .Manufacturing process--------------------------------------------­ A-3 U.S. tariff treatment--------------------------------------------- A-7 U. S. producers--·- --- -- ---- -- -- --- ---- ----- ---- --- -------- -- --- -- -- - -- - A-8 U. S. importers ------------------------- -· ------------------------------ A-10 Brokers/traders------------------------------------------------------­ A-11 End users/consumers-.----- -- - ------- -.-- - -- -- -- ----- -- - --- --- --- ---- -- -- A-11 U.S. consumption~----~------------------------------------------------ A-11 Consideration of alleged material injury to an industry in the United-.· S·tates- .- - - - _.. _ -- - - - - - - - - :.. ------------------------------------- A-13 U.S. producers' capacity, production, and capacity utilization---­ A-13 U.S. producers' shipments----------------------------------------­ A-14 U. s. producers'. inventories-- - ---- -- -- --- ----- -- --- -- ----- ----- -- - A-15 Employment-------------------------------------------------------- A-16 Financlal experience of·u.s. producers---------------------------- A-17 APT operations--------------------------------------------~--- A-17 ,·.·. Overall establishment operations----- - -- ---- -- -- -------- ------ A-20 ' .Investment in productive facilities-----------~--------------- A-22 Capital expenditures and research and development expenses---­ A-22 Capital and investment---------------------------------------­ A-23 The question of the threat of material injury: :. U.S. .importers' inventories ----------------------------------- ..:. --- A-23 The foreign industry and its capacity to generate exports--------­ A-24 Consideration of the causal relationship between alleged material injury or the threat. thereof and the alle&edly rapidly increasing imports: · U.S. imports------------------------------------------------------ A-28 The question of the rapidly increasing imports from China--------­ A-28 Rate of increase of imports from China relative to U.S. production------------------------------------------------------ A-32 Market penetration·by imports from China-------------------------­ A-32 .GSA stockpile sales---------------------------..:.------------------- A-34 Prices------------------------------------------------------------ A-36 .Purchaser responses---.---------------------------------------- A-41 ,. ·,Exchange. rates- - ---- ---- --- - ---- - --- ---- -- -- ---- -- --- - ------- - A-42 Lost sales and lost revenues---------------------------------- A-43 Appendix A. Request from the United States Trade Representative---------- A-45 Appendix B. The Federal Register notices--------------------------------- A-47 Appendix C. List of witnesses------ -- ---------- -- ----- - ----- - -·-- - -------- A-51 Appendix D. World tungsten ore reserves and production------------------­ A-55 Appendix ~· U.S, .imports of selected other tungsten products------------­ A~5i Appendix F. U.S. cost of production for APT-----------------------------­ i.::61 Appendix G. Sources of error in importers' questionnaire data-----------­ A-63 Appepdix R. Letters from purchasers"-------------------------------------- A-65 ii Contents Tables 1. APT: U.S. consumption, production, and yearend inventories, 1982-86------------------------------------------------------------ A-13 2. APT: U.S. capacity, production, and capacity utilization, 1982-86--- A-13 3. APT: U.S. producers' shipments, 1982-86----------------------------- A-15 4. APT: U.S. producers' yearend inventories and shipments, 1982-86----- A-16 5. APT: Average number of production and related workers, hours worked by such workers, productivity, wages and total compensation paid, and unit labor c·osts, 1982-86-------------------------------------- A-16 6. APT: Income-and-loss data of U.S. producers on their APT operations, accounting years 1982-86------------------------------------------- A-18 7. ·APT: Selected income-and-loss data of U.S. producers on their APT operations, by firm, accounting years 1982-86---------------------- A-19 8. APT: Income-and-loss data of U.S. producers on their APT conversion operations, by firm, accounting years 1982-86---------------------- A-19 9. APT: Unit conversion revenues, costs, and gross profit or loss, by firm, accounting years 1982-86---------------------------------- A-20 10. APT: Average unit saies value, cost of sales, and gross profit or loss, by firm, accou~ting years 1982-86---------------------------- A-20 11. APT: Income-and-loss data of U.S. producers on the overall operations of their establishments in which APT is produced~ accounting years 1982-86------------------------------------------- A-21 12. APT: Investment in productive facilities by U.S. producers as of the end of the accounting years 1982-86---------------------~·------ A-22 13. APT: U.S. producers' capital expenditures, by type and by product, 1982-86------------------------------------------------------------ A-23 14. APT: Importers' yearend inventories and shipments of the pro4uct imported from China, 1982-86--------------------------------------- A-24 15. APT and tungstic ac~d: U.S. imports for consumption, from china and other selected sources, 1981-86------------------------------------ A-29 16. APT: Shares of U.S. consumption supplied by China, all other countries, and U.S. producers, 1982-86----------------------------- A-32 17. APT: Shares of U.S. apparent consumption, by value, supplied by China, all other countries, and U.S. producers, 1982-86------------ A-33 18. Tungsten ore concentrate: Domestic sales by the General Services Administration, price range of bids, and London Metal Bulletin price quotations, by month of bid tender, January 1980- . February 1987------------------------------------------------------ A-35 19. Delivered weighted-average prices for domestic and Chinese APT, and London Metal Bulletin tungsten ore concentrate midpoint average prices, January 1984-December 1986--------------------------------- A-40 20. APT: Purchasers' weighted-average delivered prices for domestic and Chinese APT and margins of underselling, by quarter, January 1984- December 1986------------------------------------------------------ A-41 Figures 1. Tungsten: From ore to chemical------------------~------------------- A-6 2. U.S. imports for consumption of Chinese APT and tungsten concentrate, 1979-86---------------------------~-------------------------------- A-27 Note:--Information that would reveal the confidential operations of individual concerns may not be published and therefore has been deleted from this report. Such deletions are indicated by asterisks. UNITED STATES .. I~TERNAT~ONPJ. TR~W~'. CO~l;SSIQN ; Washington, DC .. Inrestigc:i,ti.on .No. TA-406-:-.11 AMMONIUM PARATUNGSTATE AND TUNGSTIC.ACID ' • . • ' • ·~ • • • ~ • . i I • • ·, • - • FROM THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA Determination On the basi.s of ~~e inf()rmation .d~:vel'!ped .~n ~.hla ,s~bj~~t Jnvestigatio.n, the Commission unanimously determines, with respect to imports of ammonium paratungstate and tungstic acid from the People's Republic of China, provided for i"n ·items 417.4'0 and· 416.40,' respectiv~·ly, of the Tariff Schedule~ of the United States, that.market disruption exists. !I :;'·: :·· _Findin~s and recommendations Commissioners Eckes, Lodwick,. an_d, Rohr find .and, recommend that in or~er. to remedy the .market. di~ruption _found. with r::esp,ect .to import,s of ammonium .. • • • , . I , .. • : ' ~ ~ ~ t ' • ·' • paratungstate <1.nd Jungstic acid fro.m the Peopie• s ,Repub.lic. Qf, China, it is • • • • • • • ,. • • " • ~ • • .' • ~ :. • . • j necessary .. to impose a quota restricting the. combin.e.d .volume of such imports . '· ... ; .. ·. .' . ' . _.. for a ~.-yea,_r :ee:rio~ tp _U1e larg~r of. ~-.1.16 ,mi~lio~ .. pound.s .. o~ .. tungste~ .con~e~t per year or 7.5 peF.cent o~ U.S. ~onsumption. Chai.rman _Liebeler fin!is !ind,_ rec01m,nends, with the. re~ervations set fort~ in her ~Hten views,:.that. in order;: t<;> .r,eme_dy :,the mar~et ~isruption found wi,th respect to imports of ammonium paratungstate an9 ,tungs,tic, acid from the ;: : . ..... · .. .. ··,; .. ''. " . People's Republic of China,