New Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Petitions on Certain Biaxial Integrated Geogrid Products from China

On January 13, 2016, Tensar Corporation (Tensar) filed antidumping (AD) petitions with the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) and U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) regarding certain biaxial integral geogrid products from the People’s Republic of China.

Scope:

The petitioners propose the following scope of investigation:

A polymer grid or mesh material (whether or not finished, slit, cut-to-length, attached to woven or non-woven fabric or sheet material, or packaged) in which four-sided openings in the form of squares, rectangles, rhomboids, diamonds, or other four-sided figures predominate. The products covered have strands (which generally have at least some degree of molecular orientation) that constitute the sides of the openings and integral junctions where the strands intersect. The products covered have a tensile strength of greater than 5 kilonewtons per meter (IN/m") as measured by American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) Standard D66371D6637M in any direction and average overall flexural stiffness of more than 100,000 milligram-centimeter as measured under the ASTM D7748/D7748M Standard Test Method for Flexural Rigidity of Geogrids, Geotextiles and Related Products.

Subject merchandise includes material matching the above description that has been finished, packaged, or otherwise further processed in a third country, including by trimming, slitting, coating, cutting, attaching to woven or non-woven fabric or sheet material, or any other finishing, packaging, or other further processing that would not otherwise remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigations if performed in the country of manufacture of the biaxial integral geogrid.

All products that meet the written physical description are within the scope of these investigations unless specifically excluded. The following products are outside of and/or specifically excluded from the scope of these investigations:

(i) grid or mesh materials comprised of strands (including strands consisting of bundled, coated, or sheathed fibers or filaments) that are:

(a) woven, knitted, or stitched together;
(b) mechanically joined (such as through tying, stapling, or use of rings);
(c) joined together by calendaring, heating, lasers, or welding in such a way as to lack a homogenous or integral junction, such as where strands running in different directions remain mostly in two planes; or
(d) bonded together with adhesives or other materials; and

(ii) grid or mesh materials wholly comprised of materials other than polypropylene or high density polyethylene.

The products subject to the scope are currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under subheading 3926.90.99.95. Subject merchandise may also enter under subheadings 3920.20.00.50 and 3925.90.00.00. The HTSUS subheadings set forth above are provided for convenience and U.S. Customs purposes only. The written description of the scope is dispositive.

Alleged Dumping Margin:

The petitions allege an overall dumping margin of 202.42 percent.

Alleged Subsidy Programs:

The CVD petition alleges that Chinese producers/exporters benefit from numerous countervailable subsidies provided by the Government of China.  Please let us know if you would like further details regarding specific subsidy allegations.

Estimated Schedule of Investigations: 

January 13, 2016 – Petitions are filed
February 2, 2016 – DOC initiates investigation
February 3, 2016 – ITC staff conference
February 29, 2016 – Deadline for ITC preliminary injury determination
April 7, 2016 – Deadline for DOC preliminary CVD determination, if deadline is NOT postponed
June 13, 2016 – Deadline for DOC preliminary CVD determination, if deadline is fully postponed
June 21, 2016 – Deadline for DOC preliminary AD determinations, if deadlines are NOT postponed
August 10, 2016 – Deadline for DOC preliminary AD determinations, if deadlines are fully postponed
December 23, 2016 – Deadline for DOC final AD and CVD determinations, if both preliminary and final determinations are fully postponed
February 7, 2017 – Deadline for DOC final injury determination, assuming fully postponed DOC deadlines