On November 7, 2018, the Department of Commerce initiated its less-than-fair-value and countervailing duty investigations on Polyester Textured Yarn from India and the People's Republic of China. These investigations have been assigned the following case numbers: A-533-885 and C-533-886 (India) A-570-097 and C-570-098 (China).
The merchandise covered by these investigations, polyester textured yarn. Polyester textured yarn is produced through a texturing process, which imparts special properties to the filaments of the yarn, including stretch, bulk, strength, moisture absorption, insulation, and the appearance of a natural fiber. This scope includes all forms of polyester textured yarn, regardless of surface texture or appearance, yarn density and thickness (as measured in denier), number of filaments, number of plies, finish (luster), cross section, color, dye method, texturing method, or packing method (such as spindles, tubes, or beams).
The merchandise subject to these investigations is properly classified under subheadings 5402.33.3000 and 5402.33.6000 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 is dispositive.
Commerce requests that comments be filed by 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on November 27, 2018.
Notice of the corresponding investigations (Inv. No. 701-TA-612-613 and 731-TA-1429-1430) at the U.S. International Trade Commission was published in the Federal Register (83 FR 53899) on October 25, 2018.
These investigations were initiated based on petitions filed by Unifi Manufacturing, Inc. and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. America on October 18, 2018.
In the antidumping duty investigation, Commerce will determine whether imports of polyester textured yarn from China and India are being dumped in the U.S. market at less than fair value.
The alleged dumping margins for China and India range from 74.98 to 77.15 percent and 35.14 to 202.93 percent, respectively.
In the countervailing duty investigation, Commerce will determine whether Chinese and Indian producers of polyester textured yarn are receiving unfair government subsidies.
There are 20 subsidy programs alleged in the China countervailing duty investigation, including the provision of low-priced inputs, preferential loans, grants, as well as income tax incentives, while there are 43 subsidy programs alleged in the India countervailing duty investigation, including tax incentives, the provision of low-priced inputs, grants, and loan subsidies.
If Commerce makes affirmative findings in these investigations, and if the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) determines that dumped and/or unfairly subsidized U.S. imports of polyester textured yarn from China and/or India are causing injury to U.S. industry, Commerce will impose duties on those imports in the amount of dumping and/or unfair subsidization found to exist.
In 2017, imports of polyester textured yarn from China and India were valued at an estimated $35 million and $19.6 million, respectively.
Click HERE for a fact sheet on these initiations.
Next Steps:
During Commerce’s investigations into whether polyester textured yarn from China and India are being dumped and/or unfairly subsidized, the ITC will conduct its own investigations into whether U.S. industry and its workforce are being harmed by such imports. The ITC will make its preliminary determinations on or before December 3, 2018. If the ITC preliminarily determines that there is injury or threat of injury, then Commerce’s investigations will continue, with the preliminary CVD determinations scheduled for January 11, 2019, and preliminary AD determinations scheduled for March 27, 2019, unless these deadlines are extended.
If Commerce preliminarily determines that dumping and/or unfair subsidization is occurring, then it will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to start collecting cash deposits from all U.S. companies importing polyester textured yarn from China and India.
Final determinations by Commerce in these cases are scheduled for March 27, 2019, for the CVD investigations, and June 10, 2019, for the AD investigations, but those dates may be extended. If Commerce finds that these products are not being dumped and/or unfairly subsidized, or the ITC finds in its final determinations there is no harm to U.S. industry, then the investigations will be terminated and no duties will be applied.
The strict enforcement of U.S. trade law is a primary focus of the Trump Administration. Since the beginning of the current Administration, Commerce has initiated 135 new antidumping and countervailing duty investigations – this is a 255 percent increase from the comparable period in the previous administration.
Antidumping and countervailing duty laws provide American businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of the unfair pricing of imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 460 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for vigorously enforcing U.S. trade law and does so through an impartial, transparent process that abides by international law and is based on factual evidence provided on the record.
Foreign companies that price their products in the U.S. market below the cost of production or below prices in their home markets are subject to antidumping duties. Companies that receive unfair subsidies from their governments, such as grants, loans, equity infusions, tax breaks, or production inputs, are subject to countervailing duties aimed at directly countering those subsidies.
