The U.S. International Trade Commission voted today, 4-0, finding that the U.S. ball bearing industry is not materially injured or threatened with material injury by imports from the Peoples Republic of China. This ends the investigation and no antidumping duties will be imposed on ball bearings from China.

This determination comes after a year-long investigation. Along the way, the U.S. Department of Commerce did find that ball bearings and parts were being sold into the U.S. at less than fair value. However, the circumstances as a whole did not convince the commissioners that any damage had been done or was likely to done to the industry in general.

On April 14, 2003, the ITC's formal statement of findings is due; at that point, we will know more about how the ITC came to its decision.

Initiated by a complaint filed in February 2002 by the American Bearing Manufacturers Association, the investigation was intense, difficult, time-consuming, and often controversial. Thousands of pages of documents were filed by all sides, including interested third parties, large databases of information were maintained and massaged, hundreds of interviews took place, and all sides had to carry out very specific calculations, often to several decimal places.

Today's decision also means deposits paid to Customs since October 1, 2002 on ball bearings and parts from China will eventually be refunded.

For its part, the ABMA can appeal the ITC's decision to the Court of International Trade. To be successful there, the ABMA would have to prove the ITC made errors in its investigation and findings. However, the appeal cannot introduce any new evidence and but must be based on the information already used by the ITC to reach its conclusion.

Some other miscellaneous information carried in the ITC's news release: