A petition filed Wednesday by U.S. yarn manufacturers Unifi Inc. and Nan Ya Plastics alleges that polyester textured yarn from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam is being sold at less than fair value in the domestic market.
The alleged average dumping margins are 15.51 percent for Indonesia, 75.13 percent for Malaysia, 56.80 percent for Thailand, and 42.29 percent for Vietnam, according to Kristen Smith, an attorney with Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg (ST&R).
The product covered by the petition is synthetic multifilament yarn manufactured from polyester through a texturing process that imparts special properties to the filaments of the yarn, including stretch, bulk, strength, moisture absorption, insulation and the appearance of a natural fiber. All forms of polyester textured yarn are included.
The petition lists 36 U.S. importers of polyester textured yarn from those countries and 26 exporters combined from the four countries.
The Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) will next determine whether to launch antidumping and/or countervailing duty and injury investigations, respectively, on this product. Commerce determines whether the alleged dumping or subsidizing is happening, and if so, the margin of dumping or amount of subsidy. The USITC determines whether the U.S. industry is materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of the imports under investigation.
If both Commerce and the USITC reach affirmative final determinations on their individual questions, then Commerce will issue an antidumping duty order to offset the dumping or a countervailing duty order to offset the subsidy.
Unifi has been involved in several petitions and positive injury cases in recent years, which it said has made for a fairer playing field. In discussing financial results in August, Eddie Ingle, CEO of Unifi, said U.S polyester operations experienced underlying sales and market share growth, “as favorable trade measures were enacted,” referring to the actions.
ST&R noted that there are strict statutory deadlines associated with these proceedings, so affected companies that wish to protect their interests should contact the law firm as soon as possible.