The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has determined that there is a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured from imports of polyester textured yarn from China and India that are allegedly subsidized and sold in the U.S. at less than fair value, creating unfair competition.
As a result, the U.S. Department of Commerce will move forward with its antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of imports of this product from China and India. Commerce’s preliminary CVD determinations are due on or about Jan. 11 and its preliminary AD duty determinations will be announced by March 27. Laws against antidumping and countervailing duties give U.S. companies a way to seek relief from the effects of unfairly priced imports.
Polyester textured yarn is synthetic multifilament yarn produced through a texturing process that gives the yarn special properties, like stretch, bulk, strength, moisture absorption, insulation and the appearance of a natural fiber.
Petitions in the case were filed by Unifi Manufacturing Inc., based in Greensboro, N.C., and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. America of Lake City, S.C. They are two of nine manufacturers of polyester textured yarn in the U.S., all located in North and South Carolina. These mills employ an estimated 1,043 workers involved in producing $271.5 million worth of goods, according to the ITC.
As part of the antidumping investigation, the alleged dumping margins for China and India range from 74.98 percent to 77.15 percent, and 35.14 percent to 202.93 percent, respectively. The margin is defined as the amount by which the export price is below market value, with extreme levels generally intended to undermine legitimate market-based pricing.
In the counterveiling duty investigation involving whether producers of the product received unfair government subsidies, 20 subsidy programs were reviewed in the China counterveiling duty investigation, including those allegedly providing low-priced inputs and preferential loans and grants, as well as income tax incentives. In the India counterveiling duty case, 43 subsidy programs came under review, including tax incentives, provision of low-priced inputs, and grants and loan subsidies.
The ITC said the amount of imported polyester textured yarn involved in the investigation was about $62.7 million. Another $69.8 million of the product was also imported last year from China, Mexico, India, Indonesia Taiwan and Malaysia.