Barnes & Thornburg Secures Trade Victory for PMP Fermentation Products

Washington, D.C. – Barnes & Thornburg achieved a victory on behalf of its client, PMP Fermentation Products, Inc. (PMP), in a matter before the United States International Trade Commission (USITC).

On October 16, the USITC unanimously affirmed that PMP was materially injured by unfairly traded sodium gluconate, gluconic acid, and derivative imports from China. The final USITC decision followed the U.S. Department of Commerce’s imposition of two sets of tariffs, antidumping and countervailing duties totaling over 408 percent on Chinese sodium gluconate products after it was determined they were subsidized and sold in the U.S. market at less than fair value. These tariffs were imposed to protect PMP from unfair Chinese trade and were in response to a petition prosecuted by Barnes & Thornburg.

“We’re delighted the USITC found that PMP was injured by reason of chronically low-priced Chinese imports underselling U.S. products,” said David Spooner of Barnes & Thornburg. “We expect this decision will help level the playing field for the U.S. manufacturer, PMP.”

The Barnes & Thornburg team representing PMP consisted of Spooner, Christine Sohar Henter and Nicholas Galbraith in the firm’s Washington, D.C., office, and Mari Yamamoto Regnier in Chicago.

With more than 600 attorneys and other legal professionals, Barnes & Thornburg is one of the largest law firms in the country. The firm serves clients worldwide from 14 offices in Atlanta, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio, Texas and Washington, D.C.