BEIJING — China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced on May 27 that it would levy provisional anti-dumping duties on phenol imported from the United States, the European Union, the Republic of Korea, Japan and Thailand.

After a preliminary investigation that started in March in 2018, the MOC determined that phenol imports from the regions had caused substantial damage to the domestic industry.

Importers of the product must place deposits with Chinese customs calculated according to the dumping margins, which ranged from 11.9 percent to 129.6 percent, according to the MOC.

Phenol is an aromatic organic compound used as a pharmaceutical preservative and in dilution.