A petition filed Sept. 8 could result in the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on imports of corrugated pizza boxes from China, Malaysia, and Türkiye.
Scope
The subject merchandise consists of corrugated pizza boxes, which are a type of box or carton manufactured from paper, paperboard, and/or cardboard for use in the food service industry, including to hold pizzas.
Subject boxes are produced from corrugated cardboard sheets, which means that they contain at least two outer layers of paper and an inside layer of fluted paper. Blanks are formed from corrugated cardboard sheets that are cut to length, die cut into specific shapes, and/or scored to allow the box to be folded.
Subject merchandise includes both corrugated food service boxes and corrugated die-cut blanks of all shapes with a maximum height of four inches, regardless of whether they are finished or assembled or include other materials, ventilation holes, or perforations. The proposed scope also includes corrugated food service boxes that have undergone further processing in a third country, including printing, coating, trimming, cutting, punching, assembling, folding, and/or perforating or any other processing that would not remove the merchandise from the scope of the investigation.
Subject boxes are typically classifiable under HTSUS subheading 4819.10.0020. All corrugated pizza boxes sold in the U.S. must comply with FDA rules regarding food safety, specifically 21 C.F.R.
AD/CVD Duty Rates
The petition alleges that subject goods are being sold in the U.S. market at less than normal value at margins of 96.62 to 304.85 percent.
However, importers are typically liable for the payment of AD/CVD duties at the alleged rates only when importing from foreign producers or exporters that fail to cooperate with AD/CVD investigations by the Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission. Lower rates are often assigned to imports from cooperative entities.
The petition also argues that subject goods are being subsidized by the government of Türkiye but does not assert specific rates.
Next Steps
The DOC and the ITC will consider this petition and quickly launch investigations to determine dumping margins/net subsidy rates and potential injury to the U.S. domestic industry, respectively. Preliminary determinations are due around Oct. 23 for the ITC and Dec. 2 (CVD) and ) Feb. 15 (AD) for the DOC, although these dates may be extended.
If these preliminary determinations are affirmative, U.S. importers will be required to post AD and/or CVD cash deposits for all entries of subject goods entered on or after the date the DOC determinations are published. However, in certain circumstances duties could be owed three months prior to these dates. In addition, preliminary cash deposit rates can change in the final DOC determinations.
Many important issues affecting coverage, duty rates, and other considerations are argued and decided in the early stages of AD/CVD proceedings before preliminary determinations are issued. Companies that strategically engage in these early stages are thus best positioned to protect their interests and mitigate any potential duty liability. For more information, please contact Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg.
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