U.S. Department of Commerce to Levy 101.41% Tariff on S. Korean PET Resin

The US government has imposed an over 100% anti-dumping duties on Korean chemical products after slapping heavy anti-dumping duties on steel products from South Korea.

On May 2, the U.S. Department of Commerce made a preliminary anti-dumping ruling on PET resin imported from South Korea. According to the desion, Lotte Chemical and TK Chemical may be subject to a tariff of 101.41%.

Lotte Chemical already stopped all exports to the United States in October last year after the U.S. initiated the anti-dumping investigation. Last year, South Korea’s PET resin exports to the United States totaled 134 billion won.

This time, the Department of Commerce used the Adverse Facts Available (AFA) provision as it did for the previous tariff imposition on South Korean steel. The provision allows the department to impose a high tariff when it determines that an anti-dumping investigation target gave an insincere reply.

Chemical industry officials expressed their concerns as high retaliatory tariffs applied to steel are spreading to the chemical industry.

In the meantime, the U.S. government announced on May 2 that it would impose an anti-dumping duty of 41.1% on South Korean wire rods, such as carbon and alloy steel, one day after it decided to exempt South Korean steel products from its additional 25% tariffs.