On February 13, 2002, the American Bearing Manufacturers Association filed an antidumping petition with the United States Department of Commerce. The ABMA alleged that ball bearings and parts were being "dumped", or sold into the U.S. from China at below fair market value. As a result, the U.S. industry was being materially injured and threatened with material injury, making it an ITC actionable complaint.

"Our member companies are among the most advanced and efficient in the world," said David Rohn, the ABMA's President. "They are able to compete with anyone, including the Chinese, provided that competition takes place on a level playing field. We are seeking through this antidumping action to achieve fair trade by eliminating unfair pricing."

In response, Commerce and the ITC instituted a preliminary investigation.

The scope of the investigation includes all antifriction bearings, regardless of size, precision grade or use, that employ balls as the rolling element (whether ground or unground) and parts thereof (inner ring, outer ring, cage, balls, seals, shields, etc.) that are produced in China.

As a result of that investigation, the five ITC Commissioners voted 3-2 on April 29, agreeing with the complaint. The majority said, "there is a reasonable indication that the domestic industry producing ball bearings and parts thereof is materially injured by reason of imports from China that are allegedly sold in the United States at less than fair value."

A date was set, later adjusted to October 1, for Commerce to make its preliminary determination of the penalties to be imposed on those bearings.

On October 1, 2002, Commerce made its determination public and agreed to impose dumping duties on those bearings according to the attached preliminary schedules.

NOTE: The full details, in a "Notice of Initiation," will be published in the Federal Register within the next few days.

Because this is only a preliminary decision on dumping duty schedules, the following are still on the docket: