Plastic Bag Tug of War

First-ever countervailing duty to be imposed on Vietnam

The Department of Commerce has issued final determinations of anti-dumping duties to be imposed on plastic grocery bags made in Taiwan, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

Polyethylene retail carrier bags — or PRCBs — have been the source of trade disputes between U.S. domestic producers and Asian manufacturers for years. These latest duties are the result of an International Trade Commission (ITC) import injury investigation launched last year. The ITC is expected to announce its final decision April 14. (Access the files on the preliminary and final phases of the ITC investigation here and here.) A second investigation focused on PRCB exporters in China, Malaysia and Thailand is also underway, with a final report due May 24 (ITC files here).

King & Spalding, legal counsel for the petitioners requesting both investigations, provides company-specific details of the ITC determination that sets dumping margins ranging from 69.64% to 85.17% for Indonesian producers, and 52.30% to 76.11% for Vietnamese producers. An earlier release covers the Taiwanese margins, which range from 36.54% to 95.81%.

Dumping margins of this dimension effectively bar the affected exporters from the U.S. market. When game-changers like this occur, The Datamyne’s bill of lading database can provide the transaction-level detail needed to locate supply-chain disruptions — and new opportunities to source or supply, ask us how.

Plastic Bags Upstream & Down

PRCBs are once and future export drivers

Stepping back from the trade tug of war over the U.S. market for polyethylene retail carrier bags, overseas suppliers make a positive contribution to growth in U.S. export sales of the low density polyethylene resins from which PRCBs are made.

PlasticNews reports that LDPEs, along with five other major commodity resins tracked by the American Chemistry Council, showed domestic sales losses in 2009, but posted overall growth thanks to big boosts in sales to export markets.

Downstream, discarded PRCBs have become such an environmental headache that some localities are outlawing them. While the American Chemistry Council reports recycling has reached an all-time high, only about 13% of plastic bags are recycled annually. And yet … the major market for the recycled material is the nascent composite-lumber sector. As composite lumber builds share in home and commercial construction, international demand for scrap plastic has begun to edge up. This new video explores both sides of the recycling issue.