WASHINGTON (Feb. 16) — The Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association, close on the heels of Gates Corp., has filed a petition with the International Trade Commission asking the ITC to review its 55-percent anti-dumping duties on polychloroprene rubber from Japan.
The elimination of the Polimeri Europa S.p.A. polychloroprene plant in France represents a changed circumstance that sharply limits the ability of MEMA member companies to obtain the rubber they need, wrote Ann Wilson, MEMA vice president of government affairs, in her letter to the commission.
The anti-dumping duties on Japanese polychloroprene rubber have been in effect since 1973. DuPont Performance Elastomers L.L.C., the sole remaining U.S. manufacturer of polychloroprene, insists the duties still are needed, although the company plans to close its Louisville, Ky. polychloroprene facility in March 2007.