The US Department of Commerce Makes a Positive Preliminary Countervailing Ruling on Imported Paper Shopping Bags

In the announcement on October 31, 2023, the US Department of Commerce announced a positive preliminary countervailing duty determination on paper shopping bags imported from mainland China and India. After in - depth investigation and analysis, the Department of Commerce preliminarily determined the subsidy rates of relevant exporters and producers and provided a detailed explanation of this decision.

For exporters and producers in mainland China, the subsidy rate of Dalian Dongzheng Paper Bag Products Co., Ltd. is 12.43%, while that of Fujian Nanwang Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. and its affiliated companies is 13.96%. In addition, including Bagitan Packaging, Changzhou Anjuchengimport and export有限公司、Courage Packaging、Evertrust Packaging、Geotegrity EcoPack、Grand Intelligent、Li & Fung、青岛晨宇包装有限公司、上海摩玺供应链管理有限公司、上海三喜纸制品有限公司、厦门建发纸业有限公司、Xiamen Champion FMCG、厦门新为达包装有限公司、厦门百万欣进出口有限公司在内的其他出口商和生产商的补贴率统一为144.03%。未列名的其他出口商和生产商的补贴率则为13.84%。

For exporters and producers in India, their subsidy rates range from 2.37% to 5.00%. The US Department of Commerce is expected to make a final countervailing duty determination on March 11, 2024.

This investigation covered products under the US Harmonized Tariff Schedule numbers 4819.30.0040 and 4819.40.0040. The product categories involved are diverse and have a far - reaching impact.

It is worth noting that this announcement of the preliminary countervailing duty determination is a follow - up action after the US Department of Commerce announced the initiation of anti - dumping and countervailing duty investigations on paper shopping bags imported from mainland China and India on June 21, 2023. In addition, the Department of Commerce also initiated anti - dumping investigations on paper shopping bags from six countries including Cambodia, Colombia, Malaysia, Portugal, Turkey, and Vietnam, as well as from Taiwan region of China.

Original announcement:Preliminary Affirmative Determination in the CVD Investigation of Certain Paper Shopping Bags from China and India