U.S. ITC makes determination on unfairly traded polyester fibers

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) recently made a unanimous preliminary determination that unfairly traded imports of fine denier polyester staple fiber (fine denier PSF) from China, India, Korea and Taiwan are causing injury to U.S. producers. The preliminary injury determination means that the anti-dumping duty cases against imports from China, India, Korea and Taiwan, along with the countervailing duty cases against China and India, will proceed.

According to Kelley Drye & Warren LLP the firm is representing the three petitioning U.S. polyester fiber producers, DAK Americas LLC, Nan Ya Plastics Corp. of America and Auriga Polymers Inc. The petitions were filed with the ITC and the U.S. Dept. of Commerce in late May, alleging that dumped imports of fine denier PSF from the four countries, and subsidized imports of fine denier PSF from China and India, are causing material injury to the domestic industry.

Imports of fine denier PSF from the four subject countries increased by nearly 68 percent between 2014 and 2016. The increase is reported to have been driven by low import prices.

Fine-denier PSF is similar in appearance to cotton or wool. It is typically converted either to yarn for weaving or knitting into fabric or to a nonwoven textile prior to the end-use application. Woven applications include the production of textiles such as clothing and bedding linens. Nonwoven applications include the production of household and hygiene products such as cleaning wipes, baby wipes and diapers.