On March 11, 2024, the Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam (TRAV) received a notification from the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) initiating a global safeguard investigation on fine denier polyester staple fiber (HS code 5503.20.0025).
The investigation was initiated by the USITC on February 28, 2024, following a petition from U.S. producers of fine denier polyester staple fiber, including Fiber Industries LLC d/b/a Darling Fibers; Nan Ya Plastics Corp, America; and Sun Fiber LLC. The petitioners allege that imports of fine denier polyester staple fiber have surged relative to domestic production and consumption, causing serious injury to the domestic industry.
According to the USITC notification, parties have 21 days from the publication date in the Federal Register to register for participation and receive information about the investigation. The USITC plans to hold one hearing on injury and one hearing on remedy measures. For the injury hearing (scheduled for June 4, 2024), the registration deadline is May 24, 2024, and the deadline for submitting comments is May 28, 2024. For the remedy hearing (scheduled for July 23, 2024), the registration deadline is July 17, 2024, and the deadline for submitting comments is July 16, 2024.
Even if parties do not register for participation, they may still submit comments on injury by June 11, 2024, and on remedy measures by July 29, 2024.
The USITC is expected to issue its injury determination by July 9, 2024, and will report its findings to the President for a decision within 180 days from the petition filing date, projected to be August 26, 2024.
According to USITC data, during the period 2021-2023, the export value of the investigated product from Vietnam to the U.S. was approximately USD 5.9 million (with USD 5.2 million in 2023 alone), ranking 8th among exporting countries to the U.S. and accounting for 3% of the total U.S. import market share.
Previously, in 2017, the U.S. investigated anti-dumping for this product from South Korea, India, China, Taiwan (China), and Vietnam; and countervailing duties for China and India. However, Vietnam was excluded from the scope of the investigation at the petitioners’ request. Currently, products from the mentioned countries/regions (excluding Vietnam) are still subject to anti-dumping/countervailing duties.
