French Firm Drops EU Unfair Trade Complaint Against DuPont

07/05/2009 12:00 - 576 Views

BRUSSELS -(Dow Jones)- French metals firm Metaux Speciaux has withdrawn an unfair trade complaint it brought against U.S. chemical giant E.I. DuPont Nemours & Co. (DD) for its sales of sodium metal in the European Union, a Metaux Speciaux spokesman said.

The European Commission, the E.U.'s executive arm, intended to put duties of 32% on DuPont sodium metal shipped from the U.S. to offset a subsidy that DuPont receives in the form of cheap electricity from New York state, according to a commission document obtained by Dow Jones Newswires.

"We have decided not to pursue this complaint," said Metaux Speciaux spokesman Frederic Chaminant.

Metaux Speciaux, DuPont and the European Commission all declined to comment on why the complaint was dropped.

The U.S. International Trade Commission in November rejected a request for anti-dumping duties by DuPont on sodium metal produced by Metaux Speciaux.

Sodium metal, the pure form of sodium, has many industrial applications. DuPont is the only sodium metal producer in the U.S., and Metaux Speciaux is the only producer in the E.U.

-By Matthew Dalton, Dow Jones Newswires; +32 2 741 1487; matthew.dalton@ dowjones.com

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Source: money.cnn.com