Melamine from China and Trinidad and Tobago Investigation Nos. 701-TA-526-527 and 731-TA-1262-1263 (Final) Publication 4585 December 2015 U.S. International Trade Commission Washington, DC 20436 U.S. International Trade Commission COMMISSIONERS Meredith M. Broadbent, Chairman Dean A. Pinkert, Vice Chairman Irving A. Williamson David S. Johanson F. Scott Kieff Rhonda K. Schmidtlein Elizabeth Haines Acting Director of Operations Staff assigned Cynthia Trainor, Investigator Carolyn Carlson, Investigator Philip Stone, Industry Analyst Lauren Gamache, Economist Justin Jee, Accountant Mara Alexander, Statistician Russell Duncan, Statistician Carolyn Holmes, Statistical Assistant Nataline Viray-Fung, Attorney Jane Dempsey, Attorney James McClure, Supervisory Investigator Frederick Ruggles, 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 Melamine from China and Trinidad and Tobago Investigation Nos. 701-TA-526-527 and 731-TA-1262-1263 (Final) Publication 4585 December 2015 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‐2 Statutory criteria ................................................................................................................... I‐2 Organization of report ........................................................................................................... I‐3 Market summary ....................................................................................................................... I‐4 Summary data and data sources ............................................................................................... I‐4 Previous and related investigations .......................................................................................... I‐5 Nature and extent of alleged subsidies and sales at LTFV ........................................................ I‐5 Alleged subsidies ................................................................................................................... I‐5 Alleged sales at LTFV ............................................................................................................. I‐8 The subject merchandise .......................................................................................................... I‐9 Commerce’s scope ................................................................................................................ I‐9 Tariff treatment ..................................................................................................................... I‐9 The product ............................................................................................................................. I‐10 Description and applications ............................................................................................... I‐10 Manufacturing processes .................................................................................................... I‐11 Domestic like product issues ................................................................................................... I‐12 i CONTENTS Page Part II: Conditions of competition in the U.S. market ............................................................ II‐1 U.S. market characteristics ....................................................................................................... II‐1 U.S. purchasers ......................................................................................................................... II‐1 Channels of distribution ........................................................................................................... II‐2 Geographic distribution ........................................................................................................... II‐2 Supply and demand considerations ......................................................................................... II‐3 U.S. supply ............................................................................................................................ II‐3 U.S. demand ......................................................................................................................... II‐9 Substitutability issues ............................................................................................................. II‐12 Packaging ............................................................................................................................ II‐12 Lead times .......................................................................................................................... II‐13 Knowledge of country sources ........................................................................................... II‐14 Factors affecting purchasing decisions............................................................................... II‐14 Comparisons of domestic products, subject imports, and nonsubject imports ................ II‐19 Comparison of U.S.‐produced and imported melamine .................................................... II‐22 Elasticity estimates ................................................................................................................. II‐24 U.S. supply elasticity ........................................................................................................... II‐25 U.S. demand elasticity ........................................................................................................ II‐25 Substitution elasticity ......................................................................................................... II‐25 Part III: U.S. producers’ production, shipments, and employment ....................................... III‐1 U.S. producer ........................................................................................................................... III‐1 U.S. production, capacity, and capacity utilization ................................................................. III‐1 Cornerstone’s U.S. shipments and exports ............................................................................. III‐2 U.S. producers’ inventories ..................................................................................................... III‐3 U.S. employment, wages, and productivity ............................................................................ III‐4 ii CONTENTS Page Part IV: U.S. imports, apparent U.S. consumption, and market shares ................................ IV‐1 U.S. importers.......................................................................................................................... IV‐1 U.S. imports ............................................................................................................................. IV‐2 Negligibility .............................................................................................................................. IV‐7 Cumulation considerations ..................................................................................................... IV‐8 Geographical markets ......................................................................................................... IV‐8 Presence in the market ....................................................................................................... IV‐9 Apparent U.S. consumption and market shares ................................................................... IV‐10 Ratio of imports to U.S. production ...................................................................................... IV‐12 Part V: Pricing data ............................................................................................................... V‐1 Factors affecting prices ............................................................................................................ V‐1 Raw material costs ............................................................................................................... V‐1 U.S. inland transportation costs ........................................................................................... V‐2 Exchange Rates ..................................................................................................................... V‐2 Pricing practices ....................................................................................................................... V‐2 Pricing methods .................................................................................................................... V‐2 Sales terms and discounts .................................................................................................... V‐4 Price leadership .................................................................................................................... V‐4 Price data .................................................................................................................................