WASHINGTON (April 7) — Just because Polimeri Europa S.p.A. closed its French polychloroprene rubber facility doesn´t mean DuPont Performance Elastomers L.L.C. wouldn´t be threatened by Japanese neoprene imports, the International Trade Commission said in a "Federal Register" notice explaining why it declined to grant Gates Corp.´s request for a review of the anti-dumping duties levied against Japanese neoprene importers.
"Based on Polimeri´s past share of the U.S. marketàits withdrawal from that market is very unlikely to lead to the elimination of all (non-Japanese) imports," the ITC said. All other market factors, the agency added, are the same as they were when the ITC decided to reaffirm the Japanese duties in June 2005.
A spokeswoman for DuPont Performance Elastomers said her company´s stand was unchanged from previously, when it said the anti-dumping duties were still necessary.
Frank Schuchat, a Denver attorney representing Gates, said an appeal before the International Court of Trade was possible, but that possibility hasn´t been fully evaluated yet.