U.S. Plastics Producers Applaud U.S. International Trade Commission's Affirmative Preliminary Determination on Imports of Polyethylene Terephthalate Resin from Brazil, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, and Taiwan

WASHINGTON, Nov. 8, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) made a unanimous preliminary determination today that unfairly-traded imports of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin from Brazil, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, and Taiwan are causing injury to U.S. producers. The preliminary injury determination means that the antidumping duty cases against imports from all five countries will proceed.

U.S. plastics producers DAK Americas LLC, Indorama Ventures USA, Inc., M&G Polymers USA, LLC, and Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, America filed petitions with the ITC and the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) on September 26, 2017 alleging that dumped imports of PET resin from the five subject countries are causing material injury to the domestic industry. 

Imports of PET resin from the subject countries increased by over 305 percent between 2014 and 2016.  The import surge was driven by low import prices that undersold the domestic industry, causing U.S. producers to lose sales, profits, and market share. 

"We are pleased with the results of the ITC's preliminary finding.  The domestic industry has been harmed by the rapid and overwhelming increase in unfairly-traded imports of PET resin from Brazil, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, and Taiwan.  The ITC's affirmative decision is an important first step for U.S. producers in obtaining trade relief," said Paul Rosenthal, of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, counsel to the petitioners.

The product that is the subject of these investigations is certain polyester terephthalate (PET) resin, which is a large-volume, thermoplastic polyester polymer resin.  PET resin has an intrinsic viscosity (IV) of 0.70 or more, but not more than 0.88, deciliters per gram.  PET resin is primarily sold in bulk form as chips or pellets, which are heated and extruded or molded into plastic bottles, containers, and packaging.  The major end-uses for PET resin include beverage bottles, food containers, and packaging for household, cosmetics, automotive, and pharmaceutical products.       

The petitioning companies are DAK Americas LLC, Indorama Ventures USA, Inc., M&G Polymers USA, LLC, and Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, America, represented by Kelley Drye & Warren LLP.

SOURCE Kelley Drye & Warren LLP