On October 8, 2024, Genera, Tellus Products LLC, and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO (USW), collectively, “American Molded Fiber Coalition” (Petitioner or Coalition), filed petitions with the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking the imposition of antidumping duties (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) on imports of thermoformed molded fiber products from China and Vietnam. Genera and Tellus Products LLC are both domestic producers of thermoformed molded fiber products. USW is a certified labor union representative of the industry producing such products within the U.S.

Under U.S. law, a domestic industry may petition the United States government to initiate an AD investigation into the pricing of an imported product to determine whether it is sold in the United States at less than fair normal value prices. For market economies (which the respondent countries here are not), normal value is home market or third-country price, or actual cost plus reasonable profit of the foreign producer/exporter. For the deemed non-market economies here, China and Vietnam, normal value is a constructed cost plus deemed reasonable profit based on surrogate values in a market economy deemed of comparable level of economic development to China and Vietnam.

A domestic industry also may petition for the initiation of an investigation of alleged countervailable subsidies provided by a foreign government to producers and exporters of the subject merchandise. DOC will impose AD and/or CVD duties on subject merchandise if it determines that imports of that product are dumped and/or subsidized, and if the ITC also determines that the domestic industry is materially injured or threatened with such injury by reason of imports of the subject merchandise.

The immediate activity will occur at the ITC. In the preliminary stage, the threshold to find injury from the accused imports is low such that the ITC generally finds sufficient indicia of injury to a U.S. industry from the accused imports to continue the AD/CVD investigations. If the ITC votes to continue, then the investigation moves to DOC.

If the ITC and DOC make preliminary affirmative determinations, U.S. importers will be required to post cash deposits in the amount of the AD and/or CVD duties for all entries of the subject merchandise entered on or after the date of DOC’s preliminary determinations being published in the Federal Register. Note that if there is a surge of imports from the subject countries following the filing of the petitions, DOC can find critical circumstances for a particular subject country (or producer) and instruct U.S. Customs & Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits retroactively to 90 days before the date of publication of the preliminary determination. 

Following further factual investigation, verification, and briefing, DOC can change the preliminary AD/CVD rates in its final determinations. AD/CVD Orders will only issue if both the DOC and ITC make affirmative final determinations. The ITC final injury investigation is more rigorous than its preliminary injury investigation, where historically 30% or so of petitions are rejected at that stage.

Scope

Petitioner requests the following product scope for the investigation:

“The merchandise subject to these investigations consist of thermoformed molded fiber products regardless of shape, form, function, fiber source, or finish. Thermoformed molded fiber products are formed with cellulose fibers, thermoformed using one or more heated molds, and cured in the mold.

Thermoformed molded fiber products include, but are not limited to, plates, bowls, clamshells, trays, lids, food or foodservice contact packaging, and consumer or other product packaging.

Thermoformed molded fiber products may be derived from any virgin or recycled cellulose fiber source (including, but not limited to, those sourced from wood, woody crops, agricultural crops/byproducts/residue, and agricultural/industrial/other waste). They may have any weight, shape, dimensionality, design, or size, and may be bleached, unbleached, dyed, colored, or printed. They may include ingredients, additives, or chemistries to enhance functionality including, but not limited to, anti-microbial, antifungal, anti-bacterial, heat/flame resistant, hydrophobic, oleophobic, absorbent, or adsorbent. Thermoformed molded fiber products may also be subject to other processing or treatments, including, but not limited to, hot or after pressing, die-cutting, punching, trimming, padding, perforating, printing, labeling, dying, coloring, coating, laminating, embossing, debossing, repacking, or denesting. Thermoformed molded fiber products subject to these investigations may also have additional design features, including, but not limited to, tab closures, venting, channeling, or stiffening.

Thermoformed molded fiber products remain covered by the scope of these investigations whether the subject product is encased by exterior packaging or whether the subject product forms the outer packaging for non-subject products. They also remain covered by the scope of these investigations whether imported alone, or in any combination of subject and non-subject merchandise (e.g., a lid or cover of any type packaged with a molded fiber bowl, addition of any items to make the thermoformed molded fiber packaging suitable for end-use such as absorbent pads). When thermoformed molded fiber products are imported in combination with non-subject merchandise, only the thermoformed molded fiber products are subject merchandise.

Thermoformed molded fiber products include thermoformed molded fiber products 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 thermoformed molded fiber products. Examples of finishing, packaging, or other processing in a third country that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigations if performed in the country of manufacture of the thermoformed molded fiber products include, but are not limited to, hot or after pressing, die-cutting, punching, trimming, padding, perforating, printing, labeling, dying, coloring, coating, laminating, embossing, debossing, repacking, or denesting.

Thermoformed molded fiber products are classified under subheadings 4823.70.0020 and 4823.70.0040, HTSUS. Imports may also be classified under subheadings 4823.61.20, 4823.61.40, 4823.69.20, 4823.69.40, HTSUS. References to the HTSUS classification are provided for convenience and customs purposes, and the written description of the merchandise under investigation is dispositive.”

Foreign Producers and Exporters of Subject Merchandise

A list of foreign producers and exporters of thermoformed molded fiber products, as identified in the petition, is provided in Attachment 1.

U.S. Importers of Subject Merchandise

A list of U.S. importers of thermoformed molded fiber products, as identified in the petition, is provided in Attachment 2.

Alleged Margins of Dumping/Subsidization

Petitioner alleges the following dumping margins:

China: 604.40%

Vietnam: 328.28% – 328.52%

These are only estimates based on data most favorable to Petitioner. DOC generally assigns duties at the highest alleged dumping rate to foreign producers and exporters who fail to cooperate during the investigation.

Petitioner identified 30 subsidies that are available to Chinese producers of thermoformed molded fiber product and 22 subsidies that are available to Vietnamese producers of thermoformed molded fiber products. Petitioner does not provide specific subsidy rates in the petition.

Potential Trade Impact

According to official U.S. import statistics, cumulative imports of the subject merchandise from China and Vietnam totaled 2.67 million pounds in 2023, representing 55.9% of all imports of thermoformed molded fiber products into the United States.

Estimated Schedule of Investigations