USITC Staff Report: Quartz Surfaces from India and Turkey staff report USITC | Page 19

The product
Description and applications 33
Quartz surface products are a compacted stone composite building material used for
countertop surfaces or aesthetic accents in residential, commercial, and industrial properties.
Quartz surface products compete with quarried natural stone products, such as granite or
marble. Demand for quartz surface products has grown due to its improved aesthetic appeal,
durability, stain and scratch resistance, heat tolerance, and anti‐microbial properties compared
to granite and marble surface products. The visual appearance of quartz surface products has
improved from a monochromatic surface to a surface that imitates natural stone patterns. The
scope of these investigations covers both raw‐material slabs and finished products.
Finished products include fabricated countertop surfaces, cut‐to‐size slabs used in the
hospitality industry, and various other decorative products. Quartz surface products are utilized
in commercial, residential, or industrial properties as countertops, tiles, bar surfaces, shower
and tub surrounds, fireplace surrounds, walls, floors, bathroom vanities, and furniture surfaces.
Quartz surface products may be further worked to meet customer specifications.
Unadulterated quartz surface products are white with fine particulates. Manufacturing
advances improved the appearance of quartz surface products and enabled producers to make
quartz surface products that mimic natural stone or have unique patterns.
Producers of quartz surface products invest in the development of new collections and
designs to attract customers. These patterns require specialized machinery and design by teams
of engineers whose end products are copyrighted as intellectual property. Figure I‐1 shows
several designed aesthetic and color options available to consumers of quartz surface products.
Certain design patterns can be created by hand.
The scope of the petition includes surfaces products made from recycled glass, which
are referred to as glass slabs. Glass slabs are composed of 75 percent recycled glass and the
remainder is some mixture of Portland cement and non‐toxic pigment. 34 Glass and quartz are
33
Unless otherwise noted, information in this section is based on Quartz Surface Products from India
and Turkey, Investigation Nos. 701‐TA‐624‐625 and 731‐TA‐1450‐1451 (Prelim), USITC Publication 4919,
July 2019, pp. I‐11‐12.
34
IceStone USA, “IceStone,” https://icestoneusa.com/products/icestone/ (retrieved March 9, 2020).
I‐13