Sino-US trade war affects paint-related products

Recently, trade tensions between China and the United States have intensified. On August 2, the United States plans to increase the tax rate from 10% to 25% on approximately $200 billion of goods imported from China. On August 3, China decided to impose additional tariffs ranging from 25%, 20%, 10%, and 5% on approximately US$60 billion in 5,207 tax items originating in the United States. Among them, chemical products in multiple categories such as coatings, titanium dioxide, pigments, and resins are included in the scope of additional tariffs.

In the list of goods subject to a 25% tariff on the United States and Canada, 2-methylpropylene, isoprene, cyclohexane, Toluene, o-xylene, pigments and products based on bismuth vanadate, polyester paints and varnishes dispersed or dissolved in non-aqueous media and other chemical products are listed. In the list of goods subject to a 20% tariff on the United States and Canada, pigments and products based on them, pigments and products containing ≥80% titanium dioxide on a dry basis (except titanium dioxide), other pigments and products containing zinc sulfide as a basic component, Chemical products such as acrylic polymer paints and varnishes dispersed or dissolved in non-aqueous media are listed. In the list of goods subject to a 10% tariff on the United States and Canada, diatomite, titanium dioxide, pigments and products based on titanium dioxide (titanium dioxide <80% on a dry basis), pigments and products based on chromium compounds, and pigments for paint making And chemical products such as dyes and colorants in retail form or retail packaging are listed.

Industry analysts believe that although a variety of coating products have been included in the list of additional tariffs, due to the large export volume of U.S. coatings to China It is relatively small and the imposition of tariffs will not have much impact. Specifically, paint brands such as Baise Bear, Benjamin Moore, and Dunn Paints that are completely exported from the original cans of the United States to the Chinese market may be greatly affected; while for PPG, Sherwin-Williams, Valspar, and Ai For companies with factories in China such as Shide, the impact is expected to be smaller.

Liu Jie, deputy secretary-general of the China Coatings Association, said that China’s import and export volume of coatings is not large. If both sides impose additional tariffs, it will be affected. The main focus is on the downstream areas of coatings, and the impact is more significant, such as furniture, construction machinery and other industries. In addition, the trade war has also had a greater impact on the raw material field of coatings. Paint companies such as Dow and Eastman recently stated that if the import price of certain raw materials rises due to tariffs, paint products will also be forced to increase in price, and downstream users should be prepared for this.

From the import side, my country imported 35,000 tons of titanium dioxide from the United States in 2017, accounting for 16.28% of total imports. It can be seen that there is still a certain rigid domestic demand for high-end titanium dioxide from the United States. However, since the Sino-US trade tensions, domestic buyers have gradually made preparations. Some intend to accept higher import prices, and some have begun to look for products of the same level as early as possible. As a substitute, the demand for domestic chloride titanium dioxide products has increased.

Others in the industry believe that the Sino-US trade war will definitely accelerate the development of my country’s chloride-based titanium dioxide and achieve faster production. In terms of quality and increment, in the future, my country will become a major producer in both the sulfuric acid process and the chlorination process, and will eventually have the right to speak and price.

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