New U.S. antidumping duty (“AD”) petitions were filed on Jan. 25 by the American Paper Plate Coalition (“APPC”) against imports of certain paper plates from China, Thailand, and Vietnam. The petitions also seek the imposition of countervailing duties (“CVD”) on imports from China and Vietnam.

The merchandise covered by these petitions consists of paper plates, which may be white, colored, and/or printed, including lamination by any means with images and/or text. Paper plates subject to these petitions may be produced from paper or paperboard of any type, have any caliper or basis weight, have any size, have one or more sections, be fluted or unfluted, and be uncoated or have any surface finish. Please see below for the full text of the proposed scope for the investigations.

The Department of Commerce (“DOC”) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”) will conduct the investigations. Within the next 45 days, the ITC will determine if there is a reasonable indication that the imports are injuring or threatening to injure the U.S. industry. If the ITC finds that this standard is met, the cases will move to the DOC, which will calculate the preliminary AD and CVD duty margins.

The DOC’s preliminary determinations are currently expected by April 19 (CVD) and July 3 (AD). On the date of publication of DOC’s preliminary determinations, importers will be required to deposit the calculated duties upon the products’ entry into the U.S. market.

Importers should also be aware that entries may be subject to AD/CVD cash deposits 90 days before the DOC preliminary determinations if the DOC issues a finding of “critical circumstances,” meaning that imports increased by at least 15 percent following the filing of the petition compared to a similar period (typically three months) before the petition.

There are strict statutory deadlines associated with these proceedings and affected companies are advised to prepare as soon as possible. If this product is of interest to you, please let us know so that we can provide you with additional information as it becomes available. A schedule of approximate key dates is attached below.

The following are key facts about this trade case:

Petitioner: APPC, which includes: AJM Packaging Corporation; Aspen Products, Inc.; Dart Container Corporation; Hoffmaster Group, Inc.; Huhtamaki Americas, Inc.; and Unique Industries, Inc.

Foreign Producers/Exporters and US Importers: Please contact us for a listing of individual importers and exporters named in the petition.

AD/CVD margins: Petitioner alleged the following AD/CVD margins:

• China: dumping margins from 142.45% to 168.45%, ad valorem;
• China: countervailing duty margins above de minimis;
• Thailand: dumping margins from 36.97% to 42.89%, ad valorem;
• Vietnam: dumping margins from 255.46% to 278.56%, ad valorem; and
• Vietnam: countervailing duty margins above de minimis.

Merchandise covered by the scope of the case

The proposed scope of this investigation describes the subject merchandise as:

The merchandise subject to this investigation is certain paper plates. Paper plates subject to this investigation may be uncolored, white, colored, or printed. Printed paper plates subject to this investigation may have any type of surface finish and may be printed by any means with images, text, and/or colors on one or both surfaces. Colored paper plates subject to this investigation may be colored by any method, including but not limited to printing, beater-dyeing, and dip-dyeing. Paper plates subject to this investigation may be produced from paper of any type, may have any caliper or basis weight, may have any shape or size, may have one or more than one section, may be embossed, may have foil or other substances adhered to their surface, and/or may be uncoated or coated with any type of coating.

The paper plates subject to this investigation remain covered by the scope of this investigation whether imported alone or in any combination of subject and non-subject merchandise.

The paper plates subject to this investigation include paper plates matching the above description that have been finished, packaged, or otherwise processed in a third country by performing finishing, packaging, or processing that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigations if performed in the country of manufacture of the paper plates.

Excluded from the scope of this investigation are paper plates produced directly from liquid fiber that is formed into the desired shape and then cured.

Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are paper bowls, paper buckets, and paper food containers with closeable lids.

* Deadlines are approximate and may change. When a deadline falls on a weekend or Federal holiday, deadlines will be extended to the next business day, as reflected in the above.

** The ITC preliminary dates may change slightly when the ITC publishes its notice of institution in the Federal Register. When the notice is published, parties will have seven days to file an entry of appearance at the ITC and apply for access to confidential information through counsel under Administrative Protective Order.