Taiwan and four other countries have been cleared of charges of dumping polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin in the US market, the US International Trade Commission said on Thursday.
The US Department of Commerce last month determined that companies from Taiwan, Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea and Pakistan had been selling PET resin to the US at below market prices and recommended that punitive tariffs be imposed.
Taiwanese firms would face anti-dumping tariffs of 5.16 percent to 45 percent, the department said in its ruling on Sept. 18.
However, the commission determined that exporters from the five nations had not materially injured or threatened US industry and ruled against imposing anti-dumping duties.
The US is Taiwan’s second-largest export market for PET resin after Japan, with export sales last year totaling about US$140 million, the Bureau of Foreign Trade said yesterday.
The commission was investigating US$154 million in PET resin sourced from Taiwan, representing 14.6 percent of total US imports, the bureau added.
The ruling clears local PET resin makers Far Eastern New Century Corp (遠東新世紀) and Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corp (新光合成纖維).
ShinKong Sythetic Fibers, which was facing heavy penalties for its perceived lacked of cooperation with the US probe, said that its production facility in Thailand could also ship to the US.
Far Eastern New Century said that its US-based production plant began supplying the domestic market in the middle of this year, adding that the company has found other buyers for its Taiwan-made PET resin.
PET resins are primarily used to manufacture beverage bottles and sterile containers for other foods, household cleaners and cosmetics.
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