Everything You Need to Know About the U.S. Thermal Paper Dumping Investigations
Late last year, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the initiation of new antidumping investigations to determine whether thermal paper from international suppliers was being dumped in the U.S. market at less than fair value.
Here’s what you need to know.
What Caused the Antidumping Investigations in the U.S.?
In petitions filed by Appvion Operations Inc. and Domtar Corporation, it’s alleged that thermal paper from four countries has been dumped in the U.S. at drastically reduced margins:
- Germany: 9.20 – 58.90 percent
- Japan: 129.86 – 140.25 percent
- Korea: 56.60 – 58.24 percent
- Spain: 32.68 – 41.45 percent
These specific investigations pertain to:
- Jumbo Rolls: These are defined as rolls with a nominal width of 4.5 inches or more, a nominal weight of 65 pounds or more, and a nominal diameter of 20 inches or more
- Converted Rolls: These are defined as having a width of less than 4.5 inches, and with a basis weight of 70 grams per square meter
What Do These Investigations Mean?
If the Department of Commerce finds that suppliers from these countries have in fact been dumping thermal paper in the United States, this would constitute material injury or the threat of material injury and could see thermal paper from these countries slapped with some massive duties.
The duties would be equal to the amount of dumping that was found to exist and their costs would fall in the laps of importers.
For context, antidumping investigations in 2019 resulted in duties being imposed that ranged in the millions–and even hundreds of millions–of dollars:
- Germany: $127.3 million
- Japan: $31.7 million
- Korea: $133.6 million
- Spain: $29.3 million
Where Do These Investigations Currently Stand?
Currently, the Department of Commerce is slated to release its final determinations by June 1 and to issue its orders by July 21.
What Could the Antidumping Duties Mean for You?
The outcome of these investigations could impact purchasers of thermal paper by increasing prices, decreasing the supply of thermal paper, or a combination of both.
In the event that duties are imposed, thermal paper could become more expensive to purchase and more difficult to acquire for some time. So, if your business utilizes thermal paper, we’d recommend playing it safe and making a larger-than-normal purchase before the Department of Commerce releases its findings and issues its orders.
And if you don’t have the physical space for additional inventory, you may want to consider our innovative warehousing solutions which allow our customers to order in bulk, store their overstock in our warehouse, and have access to their products on-demand. This would allow you to purchase a higher volume at a lower cost and ensure you have inventory available to you in the event that there’s a change in pricing or supply.
If you’d like to learn more about our thermal paper products or our innovative warehousing solutions, get in touch with us today.