Titanium Metals is awaiting a written order by the International Trade Commission as to why it ended an inquiry into titanium sponge imports from Japan and Kazakhstan so it can decide if there are reasonable grounds to appeal the October 6 decision, a company source said Tuesday.
The US Commerce Department in September launched an antidumping and countervailing duties investigations after Exton, Pennsylvania-based Timet filed a petition with the agency.
But the probe came to a halt last week when the ITC disclosed it found the titanium sponge imports were causing no harm to Timet, the lone remaining titanium sponge producer in the US.
The ITC is expected to release its written ruling in about two weeks, the source said. In it, the ITC is expected to detail its reasons for why it essentially rejected Timet's petition, the source said.
If a promising avenue of appeal is available, Timet then will decide whether to appeal the ITC decision to the United States Court of International Trade. The New York-based court handles cases involving international trade and customs disputes, including those arising from ITC rulings.
It is unclear how long it would take for the US Court of International Trade to issue a final decision.
In its August 24 petition, Timet argued that US imports of unfairly priced titanium sponge are rapidly increasing. Imports from Japan were up 38% during the first quarter of 2017 compared with a year ago, it said, while imports from Kazakhstan rose by "an astounding 1,876% from 2016 to 2017." Moreover, the values of "subject imports from both countries" increased in similar amounts, Timet added.
If the imports had been offered at fair prices, Timet said, they would not have undercut Allegheny Technologies' cost of production by 15% or more, leading ATI to shutter its new sponge plant in Rowley, Utah, at the end of 2016.
