HÀ NỘI — The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has received a petition requesting an anti-dumping investigation into polypropylene containers imported from Việt Nam, the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Trade Remedies Authority announced.

The DOC will also look into both anti-dumping and countervailing duties on similar products from China.

The petition, submitted on 17 March, was filed by three US companies — CoolSeal USA, Inteplast Group and SeaCa Plastic Packaging & Technology Container. The product under investigation falls under HS code 3923.10.9000, with case number A-552-850.

According to the petitioners, Việt Nam exported over US$6 million worth of the investigated products to the US in 2024, accounting for 19.4 per cent of total US imports of this product. China, meanwhile, accounted for 43.3 per cent with exports worth nearly US$13.4 million. Combined, imports from the two countries made up 62.7 per cent of total US imports of the item.

Seven Vietnamese companies have been named in the petition. Should the DOC initiate the investigation, these companies may be required to respond to quantity and value questionnaires within 14 days. The two largest exporters may be selected as mandatory respondents.

The alleged dumping margin for Việt Nam is 40.85 per cent, lower than the range of 74.63 to 83.49 per cent for Chinese products. As Việt Nam is considered a non-market economy by the US, the DOC will use a third country’s market prices for comparison — with Indonesia proposed by the petitioners.

The proposed investigation period for dumping is from 1 July to 31 December 2024, while the injury investigation period spans from 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2024.

The DOC is expected to decide whether to initiate the investigation within 20 days of receiving the petition, so that is likely by April 7. The US International Trade Commission (ITC) will make a preliminary ruling on material injury within 45 days. If the ITC finds no injury, the case will be dropped.

The Trade Remedies Authority recommends that relevant industry associations and businesses closely monitor the case, promptly register an account with the DOC’s IA ACCESS portal (https://access.trade.gov/login.aspx) for timely updates and document submissions. — VNS