Four makers of polypropylene corrugated boxes have filed antidumping and countervailing duty petitions against China and Vietnam.
The petitions allege that unfairly traded imports of PP corrugated boxes from those countries "are a cause of material injury — and also threaten further injury — to the domestic industry."
The box makers filing the petitions are CoolSeal USA Inc. of Perrysburg, Ohio; Inteplast Group Corp. of Livingston, N.J.; SeaCa Plastic Packaging of Kent, Wash.; and Technology Container Corp. of Desoto, Texas. The petitions were filed March 18, according to a news release issued on that date by those firms.
According to the release, the antidumping case alleges that Chinese and Vietnamese producers engaged in unfair price discrimination in the U.S. market. The U.S. box makers also filed a countervailing duty petition alleging that the Chinese government has provided "actionable subsidies" to producers of PP corrugated boxes there.
The petitions were filed with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission. Those agencies will analyze the U.S. firms' request for relief and issue preliminary and final determinations over the next year, the release said.
The U.S. firms filed the petitions in response to "a surge in low-priced imports of PP corrugated boxes from China and Vietnam that have injured the U.S. industry," according to the release. The combined volume of imports from China and Vietnam increased nearly five-fold between 2022 and 2024, the release said.
Chinese and Vietnamese producers "have massive capacity to produce [PP] corrugated boxes and if left unchecked will continue to surge at even greater volumes," according to the release.
The petitions allege that Chinese and Vietnamese producers have injured the domestic industry by selling PP corrugated boxes in the U.S. "at unfairly low prices that significantly undercut domestic market prices." As a result of this unfair competition, the domestic industry "has suffered declines in sales, production, employment and profits."
"With Chinese and Vietnamese producers exporting their massive capacity to the U.S., pricing in the U.S. market is quickly deteriorating," the release said. "Prices are likely to continue to fall if remedial duties are not imposed."
John Herrmann, an attorney representing the U.S. firms, said in the release that "surging imports of unfairly low-priced [PP] corrugated boxes from China and Vietnam have placed significant pricing pressure on the U.S. market and caused severe injury to the domestic industry."
Antidumping margins alleged in the petitions range from almost 41 percent for imports from Vietnam to almost 83.5 percent for imports from China. The USITC, will determine whether imports of PP corrugated boxes from China and Vietnam are a cause of or threaten material injury to the domestic industry.
The Commerce Department will determine whether to initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations within 20 days and will reach a preliminary determination of material injury or threat of material injury within 45 days, according to the release. Final determinations are expected in the second quarter of 2026.
Products subject to the unfair trade petitions include all imports of PP corrugated boxes, totes or other containers from China and Vietnam — regardless of whether the merchandise is imported with or without handles, lids, tops, or reinforcing wire and whether in a one-piece or multi-piece configuration.