The US International Trade Commission (USITC) will conduct a five-year review of the countervailing duty (CVD) on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, sheet and strip from India and the anti-dumping duty on PET film from India and Taiwan.
The review is to see if these orders could be revoked without injury to domestic industry or not. In 2002, the US department of commerce had issued anti-dumping duty orders on "less than fair value" imports from India and a CVD order on subsidised import from India and Taiwan. Washington said much of export assistance of this kind was a breach of World Trade Organisation rules. It imposed an anti-dumping duty of 5.71 per cent in 2007.
The review is important to the Indian petrochemical sector. When the US commission gives a notice on whether to do a five-year review, it asks interested parties to file responses that discuss the likely effects of revoking the order and provide other pertinent information. Generally, within 90 days from instituting the process, it determines if the responses it has received reflect an adequate or inadequate level of interest in a full review. If the responses to the USITC's notice are adequate, or if other circumstances warrant a full review, it does so - this includes a public hearing and issuance of questionnaires.
On PET imports from India, all six commissioners concluded the domestic group responses for these reviews were adequate and the respondent group responses were not but the circumstances warranted a full review. On imports from Taiwan, all six concluded both sets of responses for this review were adequate and voted for a full review. The commission will issue a report after it completes the latter.
PET is used for high tensile strength, chemical and dimensional stability, transparency, reflectivity, gas and aroma barrier properties, and in electrical insulation. In India, around 20 companies are engaged in the production and export of various polyethylene products.
