Mexican exporters of refillable stainless steel kegs are being warned by Mexican authorities that the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will collect cash deposits upon arrival of the products. This will happen upon the publication of the final affirmative ant-dumping determination, the Mexican Economy Ministry (SE) warns in a note monitored by Kallanish.

Cash deposits must be equal to the applicable final weighted-average dumping rates, says SE. The US DOC has assigned a dumping rate of 18.48% to the sole mandatory respondent Thielmann Mexico, as well as for all other Mexican producers.

In 2018, Mexico exported 163,839 units of refillable stainless steel kegs valued at $13.44 million. These represented 0.003% of the total value of Mexican exports to that country during the period.

“Although the value of Mexican exports of this product to the US is relatively low, the Government of Mexico will continue to provide support and advice to exporters to ensure that reference investigations are carried out,” the SE confirms. The ministry explains that the sole Mexican mandatory respondent decided not to cooperate, making use of its right not to provide information in the investigation. The US DOC therefore had used “… adverse inferences” to calculate the anti-dumping duty.

The investigation, which began on 10 October 2018, has been requested by American Keg Company and covers imports of products under the tariff codes 7310.10.0010, 7310.10.0050, 7310.29.0025, and 7310.29.0050.

According to the US DOC, the final AD determination is expected to be announced on 26 September 2019.