The US International Trade Commission (ITC) unanimously voted earlier this month to extend anti-dumping duties (ADD) on imports of certain tissue products from China.

As a result of the Commission’s affirmative determination, an existing 112.64% ADD on Chinese imports of the products in question will remain in place.

According to the ITC, a revocation of the ADD order “would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.”

The decision was taken after the second five-year sunset review of the order, which started last June.

The US Department of Commerce (DOC) issued the initial ADD order in March of 2005 after its investigations found that 12 producers and exporters had sold certain tissue products from China in the US market at less than their fair value, with a margin of 112.64%.

The goods in question are cut-to-length sheets of tissue paper having a basis weight not exceeding 29g/m² and a width no less than 0.5 inches (1.27cm).

Tissue capacity in China has expanded so rapidly in the past several years that the domestic market is unable to absorb the growing supply.

Producers have been seeking ways to ship their wares overseas, including to the USA, despite the ADD order.

Over the past ten years, the DOC has slapped punitive tariffs of 112.64% on tissue products imported from Vietnam Quijiang Paper and from Thailand’s Sunlake Décor.

The two firms were found circumventing the ADD order by converting China-origin jumbo rolls and exporting finished products to the USA.

Source: tissueworldmagazine.com