U.S. government investigates polyethylene bag imports

The United States International Trade Commission has decided there is sufficient grounds to proceed with an investigation into imports of polyethylene retail carrier bags from China, Malaysia and Thailand that are allegedly sold in the United States at less than fair value.
As a result of this decision, the U.S. Department of Commerce will continue to conduct antidumping investigations on this issue, with a preliminary determination due at the end of November.
The petition to launch an investigation was put forward by an ad hoc committee called the Polyethylene Retail Carrier Bag Committee, which includes several Canadian bag producers, namely Atlantic Packaging Products Ltd., Hymopack, and PCL Packaging Corp.
The products under investigation are also commonly referred to as T-shirt bags, merchandise bags, grocery bags or checkout bags. These are non-sealable bags, with or without printing.
The ITC’s public report should be available in early September (check www.usitc.gov, investigation numbers 731-TA-1043-1045, USITC publication 3618).
Facts from the preliminary investigation show that U.S. producers of PE retail bags had U.S. shipments of 59.6 billion bags in 2002, valued at US$652.9 million. Imports to the U.S. of PE retail bags from the subject countries (China, Malaysia and Thailand) were 27.4 billion bags, valued at US$156.7 million.