Petition Filed for New AD Duties on PET Resin From Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, Pakistan and Taiwan

A group of domestic plastics manufacturers filed a petition on Sept. 25 with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on polyethylene terephthalate resin from Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea, Pakistan and Taiwan. Commerce will now decide whether to begin an AD duty investigation on PET resin from these five countries. DAK Americas, Indorama Ventures, M&G Polymers USA and Nan Ya America filed the petition

Any AD duty orders issued as a result of this investigation would come on top of AD duty orders issued in 2016 on PET resin from Canada, China, lndia and Oman, and a countervailing duty order issued simultaneously on PET resin from China and India (see 1605050039). The petition says the scope of these investigations would cover the same products as those covered in the earlier investigations.

Proposed Scope

The petition proposes the following scope for the investigations:

The merchandise covered by these orders is polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin having an intrinsic viscosity of at least 70, but not more than 88, milliliters per gram (0.70 to 0.88 deciliters per gram). The scope includes blends of virgin PET resin and recycled PET resin containing 50 percent or more virgin PET resin content by weight, provided such blends meet the intrinsic viscosity requirements above. The scope includes all PET resin meeting the above specifications regardless of additives introduced in the manufacturing process.

The merchandise subject to these orders is properly classified under subheadings 3907.61.00.00 and 3907.69.00.00 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). Although the HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the merchandise covered by these orders is dispositive.

Commerce Accepting Comments on Petition Support

The Commerce Department is accepting comments on domestic industry support for the petitions to determine whether the petitions meet the dual requirements of support by domestic producers or workers accounting for (1) at least 25% of the total production of the domestic-like product and (2) more than 50% of the production of the domestic-like product produced by that portion of the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, the petition. If the petitions meet these requirements, among others, Commerce will initiate an antidumping duty investigation. Comments are due Oct. 15.

Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the petition.