SL faces potential US anti-dumping duties on paper file folders

By Nishel Fernando

Sri Lanka, along with Cambodia, face possible anti-dumping duties over alleged less than fair value (LTFV) imports of paper file folders into the United States.

The U.S. Department of Commerce has initiated anti-dumping duty investigations based on estimated dumping margins ranging from 127.58 percent to 288.36 percent for paper file folders from Cambodia and from 23.57 percent to 91.28 percent for those from Sri Lanka. 

This follows petitions filed by the Coalition of Domestic Folder Manufacturers, based in Hastings, Minnesota, and Naperville, Illinois, alleging that an industry in the United States is materially injured or threatened with material injury due to subsidised imports of paper file folders from Cambodia and LTFV imports from Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

According to a recently published report, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), in the preliminary phase of its investigations, found a ‘reasonable indication’ that the US industry is materially impacted by imports of paper file folders from Cambodia and Sri Lanka.

“… We determine that there is a reasonable indication that an industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of imports of paper file folders from Cambodia and Sri Lanka that are allegedly sold in the United States at less than fair value and are allegedly subsidised by the government of Cambodia,” it said.

As the next step, the Department of Commerce is set to make its preliminary and final determinations on 1 April and 16 June this year, respectively. Thereafter, the ITC is scheduled to make its final determinations on 31 July, with the issuance of orders scheduled for 7 August.

Sri Lanka emerged as an exporter of paper file folders in 2023, with exports of 349,267 kilos. In the two preceding years, there were no recorded exports of paper file folders from Sri Lanka to the United States.

The petitioners raised concerns over the rapid increase in volume growth from Sri Lanka, even if Sri Lankan imports are currently negligible.

“The petitioner contends that the rapid increase in the volume of subject imports from Sri Lanka shows that imports from Sri Lanka accounted for a growing percentage of total imports during the 12-month period before the filing of the petition and that this growth will continue,” the report states.

Paper file folders are generally used to hold and/or organise U.S. letter- and legal-sized documents or other records in professional or home office settings. The leading U.S. producers of paper file folders are Smead and TOPS, while the leading producers outside the United States include Three Color Stone Stationery Cambodia Co., Ltd. (“Three Color Stone”) in Cambodia and Lanka Educational Products Pvt. Ltd. (“Lanka”) in Sri Lanka.