WASHINGTON — December 3, 2018 — On November 30, 2018, three U.S. producers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin — DAK Americas LLC, Indorama Ventures USA Inc., and Nan Ya Plastics Corp., America — filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of International Trade. The domestic producers have requested the court’s review of the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) recent negative injury determination in the antidumping (AD) investigations on imports of PET resin from Brazil, Indonesia, Korea, Pakistan, and Taiwan.
The domestic producers’ appeal charges that several key findings are not supported by the record compiled by the Commission. Further, the ITC erred by ignoring critical data and failing to address or explain a number of important issues in the case.
The domestic producers look forward to an opportunity to present these claims to the court, and expect that as a result the ITC will reevaluate its injury determination. DAK Americas, Indorama Ventures, and Nan Ya Plastics remain certain that, ultimately, an affirmative injury determination is warranted.
Background
Four major U.S. PET resin producers — DAK Americas LLC, Indorama Ventures USA Inc., Nan Ya Plastics Corp., America, and M&G Polymers USA LLC — filed petitions with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) on September 26, 2017. On October 24, 2017, M&G Polymers USA filed for bankruptcy and later put its U.S. assets up for sale. On September 17, 2018, Commerce found significant levels of dumping by producers and exporters in all five countries: 29.68-275.89% for Brazil, 30.61-53.50% for Indonesia, 8.23-101.41% for Korea, 43.81-59.92% for Pakistan, and 5.16-45.00% for Taiwan.
The product that is the subject of these investigations is certain polyester terephthalate (PET) resin, which is a large-volume, thermoplastic polyester polymer resin, having 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.
Posted December 4, 2018
Source: Kelley Drye & Warren LLP