The US Department of Commerce has initiated an anti-dumping investigation on imports of fine denier polyester staple fiber from Taiwan, South Korea, China and India, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said yesterday.
Three major US polyester fiber manufacturers — Nan Ya Plastics Corp’s (南亞塑膠) US subsidiary, Nan Ya Plastics Corp, America; DAK Americas LLC and Auriga Polymers Inc — on May 31 filed petitions with the department and the US International Trade Commission, claiming that the imported products were causing negative effects on the industry in the US, the bureau said.
The commission on Friday last week said that it believes there is a reasonable indication that the US industry might be hurt by imports of the product at less than fair value from the four nations.
Taiwan was last year the second-biggest exporter of fine denier polyester staple fiber to the US, with imports from Taiwan totaling US$26.84 million, accounting for 25.34 percent of total imports, the bureau said, citing department data.
South Korea was last year the largest exporter of fine denier polyester staple fiber imports to the US at US$76.55 million, accounting for 72.28 percent of total imports, the data showed.
Nan Ya Plastics Corp, Far Eastern New Century Corp (遠東新世紀), Chung Shing Textile Co (中興紡織) and Tainan Spinning Co (台南紡織) are Taiwan’s main makers and exporters of fine denier polyester staple fiber, the bureau said.
The bureau declined to comment on Nan Ya Plastic’s involvement in its US subsidiary’s petition against fiber makers in Taiwan and the other three nations.
The bureau said it has asked the Taiwan Man-made Fiber Industries Association (台灣人造纖維製造公會) to reach out to the Taiwanese fiber makers regarding the US government’s investigation, adding that it would provide assistance to companies if needed.
The commission said in a statement that it would announce its preliminary countervailing duty determinations on Aug. 24 and its anti-dumping duty determinations on Nov. 7.
Should the investigation find that the imports from the four nations do harm the US industry, the department will announce a preliminary anti-dumping ruling on Dec. 4 and a final ruling on Feb. 20 next year, the bureau said.
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