Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the affirmative final determinations in the antidumping duty (AD) investigations of imports of low melt polyester staple fiber from Korea and Taiwan.

Commerce determined that exporters from Korea and Taiwan sold low melt polyester staple fiber at dumping margins ranging from 0.00 – 16.27 percent and 49.93 percent, respectively.

As a result of today’s decisions, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of low melt polyester staple fiber from Korea and Taiwan based on the final rates, as appropriate.

In 2017, imports of low melt polyester staple fiber from Korea and Taiwan were valued at an estimated $75.5 million and $26.9 million, respectively.

The petitions were filed by Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, America (SC).

The strict enforcement of U.S. trade law is a primary focus of the Trump Administration. Since the beginning of the current Administration, Commerce has initiated 118 new antidumping and countervailing duty investigations - this is 59 percent more than the 74 initiations in the last 515 days of the previous administration.

Antidumping duty laws provide American businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of the unfair pricing of imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 449 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is conducting investigations to determine whether or not the domestic industry is materially injured, or threatened with material injury, by imports of low melt polyester staple fiber from Korea and Taiwan. The ITC is currently scheduled to make its final injury determinations on or before August 1, 2018.

If the ITC makes affirmative final injury determinations, Commerce will issue AD orders. If the ITC makes negative final determinations of injury, the investigations will be terminated and no orders will be issued.

Click HERE for a fact sheet on today’s decisions.

Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for vigorously enforcing U.S. trade laws and does so through an impartial, transparent process that abides by international law and is based on factual evidence provided on the record.

Foreign companies that price their products in the U.S. market below the cost of production or below prices in their home markets are subject to antidumping duties.