Investigation No. 731-TA-1472, the antidumping duty order on difluoromethane (R-32) from China, has entered its expedited five-year review phase, with the International Trade Commission setting a July 1, 2026 deadline at 5:15 p.m. ET for written comments from interested parties. The Commission's May 8, 2026 determination found adequate domestic party response but inadequate respondent party response—triggering the expedited timeline under 19 U.S.C. 1675(c)(3).
R-32, classified as a hydrofluorocarbon refrigerant, faces this sunset review to determine whether revoking the existing antidumping duty order would likely cause continuation or recurrence of material injury to domestic producers. For trade compliance systems tracking AD/CVD rates on refrigerant imports from China, this review directly impacts duty calculation logic and landed cost projections for entries containing this compound.
The procedural framework for this review operates under 19 CFR part 201 (subparts A and B) and 19 CFR part 207 (subparts A, D, E, and F). The Commission has identified Arkema Inc. as the sole party whose response qualifies as individually adequate, meaning comments from other interested parties will not be accepted per 19 CFR 207.62(d)(2). This narrow participation window concentrates the evidentiary record significantly.
Key Date: The public staff report will be issued after June 24, 2026, following release of the nonpublic version to parties on the Administrative Protective Order service list. This report contains the analytical foundation the Commission will use in its final determination.
Comments submitted by the July 1 deadline may not contain new factual information—a critical constraint for parties preparing submissions. Any business proprietary information must conform to Sections 201.6, 207.3, and 207.7 of the Commission's rules. Should the Department of Commerce extend its final results timeline, the comment deadline shifts to three business days after Commerce issues those results.
For engineering teams maintaining duty rate databases, the outcome of this expedited review creates a binary state change: either the antidumping order continues with existing rates applied to HTS entries for R-32 from China, or revocation removes the AD duty layer entirely. Systems that cache AD/CVD rates must flag this investigation number for monitoring through the review's conclusion.
Compliance Alert: Automated entry systems pulling duty rates for difluoromethane imports must account for the pending review status. Rate changes following the Commission's final determination will require immediate propagation to avoid duty underpayment or overpayment on in-transit shipments.
Contact for this proceeding is Alexis Yim at the Office of Investigations (202-708-1446). The public record and all filings are accessible via the Commission's Electronic Document Information System (EDIS) at edis.usitc.gov. The expedited nature of this review—driven by inadequate respondent participation—typically results in faster resolution than full reviews, compressing the timeline for compliance teams to prepare system updates.