Tiếng Việt
中文 (中国)
On February 14, 2024, the United States Department of Commerce initiated anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations on certain paper disc products imported from China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The investigated products include discs made by pressing or cutting from paper/board (hereinafter referred to as paper discs), excluding:
(i) discs molded or pressed directly from paper pulp;
(ii) discs with a depth from 1.25 to less than 2 inches and a bottom diameter not exceeding 5 inches (if circular) with an area not exceeding 20 square inches (if non-circular).
The investigated products have HS codes 4823.69.00.40 or 4823.61.00.40. Additionally, during the initiation phase, the petitioner provided additional information adjusting the scope of the investigated products, suggesting that paper discs could be packaged with other products under codes 9505.90.4000 and 9505.90.6000.
For the scope of the investigated products, the Department of Commerce (DOC) will consider input from interested parties before issuing preliminary determinations. In order for the DOC to develop the questionnaire, parties must submit comments on the scope of the product by 5:00 p.m. on March 5, 2024 (U.S. time) and rebuttal comments on the scope of the product by 5:00 p.m. on March 15, 2024 (U.S. time).
The anti-dumping investigation period is from July 1 to December 31, 2023, and the countervailing duty investigation period is from January 1 to December 31, 2023. The injury investigation period spans three years from 2021 to 2023.
The United States initiates anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations on paper disc imports from Vietnam
According to the petitioner, during the period from December 2022 to November 2023, the volume of imported products under investigation from Vietnam to the United States was approximately 3,240 tons, accounting for about 4.02% of the total imports into the United States (while China accounted for about 73.98% and Thailand accounted for about 2.82%).
According to data from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Vietnam exported about $9.3 million of these products to the United States in 2022. In 2023, Vietnam exported about $9 million.
DOC issued Quantity and Value Questionnaires for nine Vietnamese companies named in the petition to collect information to select mandatory respondents. Companies not named in the petition but exporting the investigated products to the United States are encouraged to proactively contact the investigating authority, register as interested parties, and respond to the questionnaires to potentially receive lower duty rates.
The deadline for response is February 28, 2024, U.S. time (companies may request an extension if needed).
The alleged dumping margin with Vietnam ranges from 153.09% to 165.27%. This range is lower than the alleged dumping margin with China, which is 154.57% to 178.80%, but higher than that with Thailand, which is 61.03% to 73.17%.
As the United States considers Vietnam a non-market economy, DOC will use surrogate values from a third country to calculate the dumping margin for Vietnam. Indonesia is often chosen as the surrogate country for determining values in trade remedy cases involving Vietnam.
In this case, Indonesia is also selected as the surrogate country. Parties have a deadline to comment on the surrogate country within 30 days before DOC issues preliminary determinations on the case. DOC is expected to issue preliminary determinations within 140 days from the initiation date of the investigation. This deadline may be extended.
ITC will issue preliminary injury determinations within 45 days (expected on March 11, 2024). The final determinations are scheduled to be issued by DOC on September 16, 2024, and by ITC on October 31, 2024, for the anti-dumping investigation.
The countervailing duty investigation is expected to reach final determinations earlier, on July 3, 2024, by DOC and on August 18, 2024, by ITC.
The anticipated implementation date for measures is November 7, 2024, for the anti-dumping investigation and August 26, 2024, for the countervailing duty investigation.
However, the aforementioned timelines may be extended by relevant authorities in anti-dumping and trade remedy investigations as needed.
The initiation notice of the investigation can be downloaded here.
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