Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts from Belgium, Colombia, and Thailand Investigation Nos. 701-TA-581 and 731-TA-1374-1376 (Preliminary) Publication 4710 July 2017 U.S. International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 U.S. International Trade Commission COMMISSIONERS Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, Chairman David S. Johanson, Vice Chairman Irving A. Williamson Meredith M. Broadbent Catherine DeFilippo Director of Operations Staff assigned Carolyn Carlson, Investigator Lawrence Jones, Investigator Jeffrey Clark, Industry Analyst Lauren Gamache, Economist Mary Klir, Accountant Mara Alexander, Statistician Carolyn Holmes, Statistical Assistant Courtney McNamara, Attorney Douglas Corkran, 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 Citric Acid and Certain Citrate Salts from Belgium, Colombia, and Thailand Investigation Nos. 701-TA-581 and 731-TA-1374-1376 (Preliminary) Publication 4710 July 2017 CONTENTS Page Determinations............................................................................................................................1 Views of the Commission .............................................................................................................3 Part I: Introduction ................................................................................................................... I-1 Background ...................................................................................................................................... I-1 Statutory criteria and organization of the report ............................................................................ I-1 Statutory criteria .......................................................................................................................... I-1 Organization of report.................................................................................................................. I-3 Market summary .............................................................................................................................. I-3 Summary data and data sources ...................................................................................................... I-4 Previous and related investigations ................................................................................................. I-4 Nature and extent of alleged subsidies and sales at LTFV ............................................................... I-7 Alleged subsidies .......................................................................................................................... I-7 Alleged sales at LTFV .................................................................................................................... I-7 The subject merchandise ................................................................................................................. I-8 Commerce’s scope ....................................................................................................................... I-8 Tariff treatment ............................................................................................................................ I-9 The product ...................................................................................................................................... I-9 Description and applications ........................................................................................................ I-9 Manufacturing processes ........................................................................................................... I-12 Domestic like product issues .......................................................................................................... I-15 Part II: Conditions of competition in the U.S. market ................................................................ II-1 U.S. market characteristics ............................................................................................................. II-1 Channels of distribution .................................................................................................................. II-1 Geographic distribution .................................................................................................................. II-2 Supply and demand considerations ................................................................................................ II-3 U.S. supply ................................................................................................................................... II-3 U.S. demand ................................................................................................................................ II-5 Substitutability issues ...................................................................................................................... II-7 Lead times ................................................................................................................................... II-8 Non-GMO and organic certified CACCS ...................................................................................... II-8 Other certifications ..................................................................................................................... II-9 Factors affecting purchasing decisions ....................................................................................... II-9 Comparison of U.S.-produced and imported CACCS ................................................................ II-10 i CONTENTS Page Part III: U.S. producers’ production, shipments, and employment ............................................ III-1 U.S. producers ................................................................................................................................ III-1 Related firms .............................................................................................................................. III-1 Changes in operations ................................................................................................................ III-2 U.S. production, capacity, and capacity utilization ........................................................................ III-2 Operations on CACCS ................................................................................................................. III-2 Alternative products .................................................................................................................. III-4 U.S. producers’ U.S. shipments and exports .................................................................................. III-4 U.S. producers’ inventories ............................................................................................................ III-7 U.S. producers’ imports and purchases ......................................................................................... III-8 U.S. employment, wages, and productivity ................................................................................... III-8 Part IV: U.S. imports, apparent U.S. consumption, and market shares...................................... IV-1 U.S. importers ............................................................................................................................... IV-1 U.S. imports ................................................................................................................................... IV-3 Negligibility .................................................................................................................................... IV-6 Cumulation considerations ........................................................................................................... IV-8 Fungibility .................................................................................................................................. IV-8 Geographical markets ............................................................................................................. IV-16 Presence in the market ........................................................................................................... IV-18 Apparent U.S. consumption and market shares ......................................................................... IV-19 Part V: Pricing data .................................................................................................................. V-1 Factors affecting prices .................................................................................................................. V-1 Raw material costs ..................................................................................................................... V-1 U.S. inland transportation costs ................................................................................................. V-2 Pricing practices ............................................................................................................................. V-3 Pricing methods.......................................................................................................................... V-3 Sales terms and discounts .......................................................................................................... V-4 Price data ......................................................................................................................................