Amidst the US-China trade dispute, the Caustic soda imports to the US from China have become nearly zero in the first eight months of 2019 which has caused flows from other countries to rise sharply as per US International Trade Commission (USIC) data.

Flows from other countries especially Asia have risen sharply amid reduced Chinese import. In September last year, US imposed tariffs on Caustic soda which is a key raw material for alumina, pulp and paper, detergents and soaps.

Caustic Soda was among $200 billion in Chinese goods, however after tariffs were imposed, imports from China dipped. In 2017, the US received 867,669 MT caustic soda imports, which were reduced by 5% in 2018 to 823,044. This reflects a significant dip in US import needs due to rise in US inventories.