WASHINGTON (ICIS news)--US plastic film producers said on Tuesday they are losing some $200m annually to foreign manufacturers who are dumping sheet and strip film on the US market at below production cost and several have filed a complaint with US authorities.
SKC Films of Covington, Georgia, has joined the three other major US domestic producers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film in filing a complaint with the US Commerce Department over alleged product dumping by PET film producers in Brazil, China, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The dumping complaint filed by the four companies at the department s International Trade Administration (ITA) sought punitive duties against the foreign firms, said SKC marketing manager David Kim.
The other three US domestic producers involved are DuPont Teijin Films, Mitsubishi Polyester Film of America and Toray Plastics America Inc.
The same group of four firms filed and won an anti-dumping case four years ago against PET film makers in India and Taiwan, said Kim.
We were successful in that case and leveraged some significant punitive and counterveiling duties against those producers, with duties in excess of 20% that are still in force, he added.
The four domestic PET film manufacturers launched their new dumping complaint after seeing renewed flow of below-cost product coming from abroad, he said.
In fact, we ve discovered that the India companies that we won our case against four years ago have simply moved production to the UAE and Thailand in order to circumvent the 20% duties assessed against them in our earlier case, Kim said.
He said the dumped PET film products had cost his company and the other three domestic producers loss of significant market share and the ability to be competitive in the market in pricing and volume . He estimated the annual loss for the four companies combined at $200m.
In response to the complaint, the International Trade Administration had launched an investigation, according to Brittany Eck, spokeswoman for the department.
The department and the separate International Trade Commission share responsibility for investigating alleged dumping cases.
The two agencies are expected to complete their investigations by July next year, Eck said.
If PET film dumping is confirmed and found to have harmed the four domestic manufacturers, punitive duties could be imposed that same month.
The complaint filed with the ITA was already having some impact in the market as US consumers of PET film buying low-cost dumped product were becoming aware that those foreign suppliers soon might not be available, Kim said.
The US domestic market for PET film was in excess of $1bn annually, Kim estimated.
SKC Films of Covington, Georgia, has joined the three other major US domestic producers of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film in filing a complaint with the US Commerce Department over alleged product dumping by PET film producers in Brazil, China, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The dumping complaint filed by the four companies at the department s International Trade Administration (ITA) sought punitive duties against the foreign firms, said SKC marketing manager David Kim.
The other three US domestic producers involved are DuPont Teijin Films, Mitsubishi Polyester Film of America and Toray Plastics America Inc.
The same group of four firms filed and won an anti-dumping case four years ago against PET film makers in India and Taiwan, said Kim.
We were successful in that case and leveraged some significant punitive and counterveiling duties against those producers, with duties in excess of 20% that are still in force, he added.
The four domestic PET film manufacturers launched their new dumping complaint after seeing renewed flow of below-cost product coming from abroad, he said.
In fact, we ve discovered that the India companies that we won our case against four years ago have simply moved production to the UAE and Thailand in order to circumvent the 20% duties assessed against them in our earlier case, Kim said.
He said the dumped PET film products had cost his company and the other three domestic producers loss of significant market share and the ability to be competitive in the market in pricing and volume . He estimated the annual loss for the four companies combined at $200m.
In response to the complaint, the International Trade Administration had launched an investigation, according to Brittany Eck, spokeswoman for the department.
The department and the separate International Trade Commission share responsibility for investigating alleged dumping cases.
The two agencies are expected to complete their investigations by July next year, Eck said.
If PET film dumping is confirmed and found to have harmed the four domestic manufacturers, punitive duties could be imposed that same month.
The complaint filed with the ITA was already having some impact in the market as US consumers of PET film buying low-cost dumped product were becoming aware that those foreign suppliers soon might not be available, Kim said.
The US domestic market for PET film was in excess of $1bn annually, Kim estimated.
