Note 7 - China Operations	12 Months Ended
Note 7 - China Operations	Aug. 31, 2017
Notes to Financial Statements
Fair Value Disclosures [Text Block]	7. CHINA OPERATIONS Effective December 31, 2014, the Company terminated its joint venture agreements with its previous joint venture in China, Tianjin Zerust, began the process of liquidating the joint venture entity, and commenced operations in China through a wholly-owned subsidiary, NTIC (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. on January 1, 2015. Effective December 31, 2014, the Company’s investment in Tianjin Zerust was reported at carrying value based on the Company’s decreased level of influence over the entity, and the Company reclassified previously unrecognized gains on foreign currency translation from accumulated other comprehensive income. Any declines in the fair value were reflected as adjustments to the carrying value. Since it began the process of liquidating the joint venture entity on December 31, 2014, the Company has not received any proceeds from the assets of Tianjin Zerust. In addition, the Company has not received financial information or cooperation from its joint venture partner in determining the investment value for the year ended August 31, 2017 or 2016. During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016, the Company obtained additional information regarding the financial position of the investment through the legal proceedings that have been ongoing (See Note 16 ). These circumstances resulted in the Company concluding an indication of impairment exists and that the fair value of the investment was $0 as of August 31, 2016 based on accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. See Note 16 regarding ongoing litigation involving Tianjin Zerust.

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.