On January 24, 2024, the American Paper Plate Coalition, composed of six U.S. producers, filed petitions targeting imports of paper plates from China, Thailand, and Vietnam. The petitions call for the imposition of antidumping (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) on imports of certain paper plates. For more details on the antidumping and countervailing duty proceedings, please refer to our previous article on a similar case involving glass wine bottles.

Duty Allegations by Country:

• Thailand: The petition alleges dumping margins ranging from 36.97 percent to 42.89 percent.

• Vietnam: Vietnamese exporters face allegations of 22 countervailable subsidy programs and dumping margins ranging from 255.46 percent to 278.56 percent.

• China: Chinese exporters are accused of 17 countervailable subsidy programs and dumping margins ranging from 142.45 percent to 168.45 percent.

Import Values:

• The total import value of paper plates in 2022 was approximately $229 million.

• Imports from China accounted for about $167.3 million, Thailand for $5.2 million, and Vietnam for $8.9 million.

Strategic Considerations:

• These petitions present an opportunity, particularly for Thai and Vietnamese exporters, to develop a comprehensive case strategy that could potentially exempt all exporters from additional import duties. Under the law, an investigation must be terminated if imports of the subject merchandise are found to be negligible — that is, if they account for less than 3 percent of the volume of all such merchandise imported into the United States over the most recent 12-month period. Given that the import volumes from Thailand and Vietnam are very close to this threshold, an effective legal strategy could prove fruitful.

Scope of the Investigations:

• The merchandise subject to this investigation is certain paper plates. Paper plates subject to this investigation may be uncolored, white, colored, or printed. Printed paper plates subject to this investigation may have any type of surface finish, and may be printed by any means with images, text and/or colors on one or both surfaces. Colored paper plates subject to this investigation may be colored by any method, including but not limited to printing, beater-dyeing, and dip-dyeing. Paper plates subject to this investigation may be produced from paper of any type, may have any caliper or basis weight, may have any shape or size, may have one or more than one section, may be embossed, may have foil or other substances adhered to their surface, and/or may be uncoated or coated with any type of coating.

• The paper plates subject to this investigation remain covered by the scope of this investigation whether imported alone, or in any combination of subject and non-subject merchandise.

• The paper plates subject to this investigation include paper plates matching the above description that have been finished, packaged, or otherwise processed in a third country by performing finishing, packaging, or processing that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigations if performed in the country of manufacture of the paper plates.

• Excluded from the scope of this investigation are paper plates produced directly from liquid fiber that is formed into the desired shape and then cured.

• Also excluded from the scope of this investigation are paper bowls, paper buckets, and paper food containers with closeable lids.