The US has enacted significant trade penalties on food containers from China and Vietnam after ITC ruling on unfair imports, impacting domestic industry.
The Trump administration has imposed steep trade penalties on disposable food containers from China and Vietnam after the US International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that the American industry was injured by unfair imports, reported Fox News.
The ITC found that thermoformed molded fiber products, including disposable bowls, plates, and cups, were being dumped at unfairly low prices. The Commerce Department will now issue final antidumping and countervailing duty orders, separate from existing tariffs, to level the playing field for US manufacturers.
Duties will reach as high as 540 percent on some Chinese producers, including more than 477 percent for dumping alone, and more than 260 percent on Vietnamese producers. The ITC also authorized retroactive duties on Vietnamese imports, a rare move in the past 25 years.
Attorney Yohai Baisburd, counsel to the American Molded Fiber Coalition, stated that the measures will allow US companies to reinvest in workers and technology. He noted that the Trump administration is using all enforcement tools, including customs actions and a new DOJ Trade Fraud Taskforce, to protect domestic manufacturing.
The duties will apply for at least five years and are not subject to presidential discretion. Health concerns have also been raised, with ITC reports citing 'forever chemicals' in some foreign-made containers.
The ruling marks the third recent trade case affecting disposable food service products, following duties on aluminum containers and paper plates from Asia.
