On December 2, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued an announcement to initiate the first anti-dumping and countervailing sunset review investigation on polyester textured yarn imported from China and India. The products involved are U.S. tax numbers 5402333000 and 5402336000. At the same time, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) initiated the first anti-dumping and countervailing sunset review industry damage investigation on polyester textured yarn imported from China and India to examine whether the substantial damage caused by the import of the products involved to the U.S. domestic industry will continue or reoccur within a reasonably foreseeable period if the current anti-dumping and countervailing measures are cancelled. Stakeholders should register to respond to the lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Commerce within 10 days from the date of this announcement. Stakeholders should submit a response to the U.S. International Trade Commission by January 2, 2025, and submit comments to the U.S. International Trade Commission on the adequacy of the response to the case by February 12, 2025 at the latest.
In fact, this is not the first time that the United States has initiated a double anti-dumping investigation against polyester textured yarn. As early as November 8, 2018, the U.S. Department of Commerce launched a double-anti-dumping investigation on polyester processed yarn imported from China and India, and made a final anti-dumping and anti-subsidy ruling on November 14, 2019. Five years later, the United States has launched the investigation again, which makes people wonder, what special "magic" does polyester processed yarn have that it has been repeatedly "targeted" by the United States? Polyester processed yarn plays an important role in many fields with its excellent performance and wide applicability. In the textile industry, polyester processed yarn is widely used in the production of clothing, home textile products and various decorations. In addition, it also shows its importance in the industrial field, especially in the manufacture of mechanical parts, filter materials and insulation materials. It is worth noting that China's polyester industrial yarn production capacity occupies a pivotal position in the global market, and its production capacity accounts for almost 60% of the world's total production capacity, ranking first in the world.
The polyester industry is certainly important, but for a country like the United States that has almost completely lost its basic weaving industry, it seems unnecessary to launch a double-anti-dumping investigation against Chinese polyester again. According to statistics from the U.S. Customs, the United States imported $494,000 worth of products involved in the case from China in 2023, up 20.9% year-on-year. According to statistics from China Customs, China exported $488,000 worth of products involved in the case to the United States, down 22.5% year-on-year.
The amount of several hundred thousand dollars a year is basically just the consumption of a large domestic weaving factory for a few months. It can't have any substantial impact on my country's polyester industry at all, and it is more symbolic.
Before the change of the U.S. government, it can be clearly felt that the current U.S. caretaker government is playing all the cards it can play, even bringing up the content of polyester double anti-dumping, which is almost only symbolic. In the future, after Trump's election, if he really wants to revive his country's manufacturing industry, like many countries, the best industry to start from scratch is still the textile industry, which makes it difficult to bypass polyester filaments, but if the double anti-dumping investigation is launched again, it will obviously increase the difficulty of re-establishing the manufacturing industry in the United States in the future. Compared with the double anti-dumping of polyester, the textile people are most worried about the issue of additional tariffs. Judging from the interviews with Trump and his new cabinet members, tariffs are more like a diplomatic bargaining chip and means for them, rather than really relying on tariffs to achieve certain specific goals. The tariff content has also changed from 60% at the beginning to 10% later. And from the interview with the new US Treasury Secretary, Bessant, if they really choose to impose tariffs, it is more likely to take the form of a small increase every month, which can reduce the impact of the tax increase on the public. But no matter what, the anti-dumping and countervailing investigation on Chinese polyester is a sign that it is always right to give up the fantasy of the tariff stick that may come in the future and try to find a direction to absorb the production capacity.
