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News Release 23-063
Inv. No(s). 701-TA-690-691 and 731-TA-1619-1627
Contact: Lawrence Jones, 202-205-1819
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) today determined that there is a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured by reason of imports of paper shopping bags from Cambodia, China, Colombia, India, Malaysia, Portugal, Taiwan, Turkey, and Vietnam that are allegedly sold in the United States at less than fair value and subsidized by the governments of China and India.
Chairman David S. Johanson and Commissioners Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, Jason E. Kearns, Randolph J. Stayin, and Amy A. Karpel voted in the affirmative.
As a result of the Commission’s affirmative determinations, the U.S. Department of Commerce will continue its investigations of imports of paper shopping bags from Cambodia, China, Colombia, India, Malaysia, Portugal, Taiwan, Turkey, and Vietnam, with its preliminary countervailing duty determinations due on or about September 25, 2023, and its preliminary antidumping duty determinations due on or about November 16, 2023.
The Commission’s public report Paper Shopping Bags from Cambodia, China, Colombia, India, Malaysia, Portugal, Taiwan, Turkey, and Vietnam (Inv. Nos. 701-TA-690-691 and 731-TA-1619-1627 (Preliminary), USITC Publication 5448, July 2023) will contain the views of the Commission and information developed during the investigations.
The report will be available by August 25, 2023; when available, it may be accessed on the USITC website at: https://www.usitc.gov/commission_publications_library.
UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20436
FACTUAL HIGHLIGHTS
Paper shopping bags from Cambodia, China, Colombia, India, Malaysia, Portugal, Taiwan, Turkey, and Vietnam
Investigation Nos: 701-TA-690-691 and 731-TA-1619-1627 (Preliminary)
Product Description: Paper shopping bags with handles of any type, regardless of whether there is any printing, regardless of how the top edges are finished (e.g., folded, serrated, or otherwise finished), regardless of color, and regardless of whether the top edges contain adhesive or other material for sealing closed. Paper shopping bags have a width of at least 4.5 inches and depth of at least 2.5 inches. Paper shopping bags typically are made of kraft paper but can be made from any type of cellulose fiber, paperboard, or pressboard with a basis weight less than 300 grams per square meter (GSM).
Status of Proceedings:
1. Type of investigation: Preliminary countervailing duty and antidumping duty investigations.
2. Petitioners: Coalition for Fair Trade in Shopping Bags, an ad hoc coalition whose members include Novolex Holdings, LLC, a domestic producer of paper shopping bags, Charlotte, North Carolina, and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, a union representing workers at paper shopping bag production facilities, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
3. USITC Institution Date: Wednesday, May 31, 2023.
4. USITC Conference Date: Wednesday, June 21, 2023.
5. USITC Vote Date: Friday, July 14, 2023.
6. USITC Notification to Commerce Date: Monday, July 17, 2023.
U.S. Industry in 2022:
1. Number of U.S. producers: 4.
2. Location of producers’ plants: Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, New York. Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Washington.
3. Production and related workers: 1
4. U.S. producers’ U.S. shipments: 1
5. Apparent U.S. consumption: 1
6. Ratio of subject imports to apparent U.S. consumption: 1
U.S. Imports in 2022:
1. Subject imports: 444.9 million pounds
2. Nonsubject imports: 212.5 million pounds
3. Leading import sources: China, Vietnam, and India.
1 Withheld to avoid disclosure of business proprietary information.