On May 1, MS International (MSI), well-known as one of the largest importers of quartz surfacing, filed a challenge to Cambria’s petition for antidumping duties on imported Chinese quartz. According to the MSI’s submission, filed by the Hogan Lovells international law firm, Cambria does not have the proper standing to file an antidumping petition.
In April, Cambria filed a Petition for the Imposition of Antidumping and Countervailing Duties, claiming that China was dumping quartz surfaces into the U.S. market at prices up to 455.65 percent lower than its actual value. If the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission find this to be true, strict tariffs could be imposed on Chinese quartz imported into the U.S.
MSI has objected to Cambria’s petition on two grounds. By law, such petitions may only be filed by one or more businesses that make up more than 50 percent of the market. Cambria claims that it alone meets this criteria. However, MSI believes this is not the case, especially because Cambria has included prefabricated quartz surfaces in the antidumping charges but did not include U.S. fabricators in its assessment of market share.
According to the MSI Cambria’s initial petition was based merely on the proposed, fact that the company owns “five of the nine production lines for non-fabricated quartz surfaces in the U.S.” MSI believes this, in and of itself, is insufficient to prove a 50 percent market share, thus invalidating Cambria’s petition.
