(Yicai Global) Oct. 15 -- China's Ministry of Commerce has finalized anti-dumping duty rates for hydriodic acid imports from the United States and Japan.

For five years from tomorrow, American firms will pay a 123.4 percent duty and Japanese exporters will pay 41.1 percent, the ministry ruled today.

Hydriodic acid is used as a catalyst for chemical reactions and as a disinfectant, often to sanitize medical tools. It is also listed by the US Drug Enforcement Agency as a chemical used to produce controlled substances, as it can be combined with substances from nasal decongestants to make methamphetamine.

Taian Havay Chemicals applied for an anti-dumping investigation in September on behalf of the domestic industry, and the ministry agreed the following month to conduct a probe. It reviewed products dumped from July 2016 through June 2017 and considered industrial damage from January 2015 through June 2017.

The ministry made a preliminary ruling on the case in June, saying the products were dumped and setting rates at 118.8 percent for American companies and 41.1 percent for Japanese firms.

Editor: James Boynton