ISLAMABAD: The Canadian government has withdrawn a preliminary anti-dumping duty of 5.5 per cent imposed on the import of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) from Pakistan.

The duty was withdrawn following a judgment of the Canadian International Trade Tribunal announced on March 16.

Popularly known as PET resin, the thermoplastic polymerresin is a bottle-grade polyester chip that is used in the production of disposable bottles for beverages.

A copy of the judgment was received from local manufacturer of PET resin Novatax Limited — main party against the action was taken.

The tribunal has conducted an inquiry into whether the dumping and subsidising of PET resin having an intrinsic viscosity of at least 0.70 decilitres per gram but not more than 0.88 decilitres per gram, including PET resin and recycled PET containing 50pc or more virgin PET resin content by weight, originating in or exported from China, India, Oman and Pakistan have caused injury or threatening to cause injury to the domestic industry.

The tribunal found that the volume of subsidised goods originating in or exported from Oman and Pakistan are negligible. The tribunal, therefore, terminated its inquiry regarding subsidising goods originating in or exported from Pakistan and Oman.

The judgment concluded that PET resin originating in or exported from Oman and Pakistan has not caused damage or is a threat to the domestic industry. However, in the case of China and India the dumping duty will remain.

Interestingly, Pakistan was celebrating the WTO dispute settlement system’s landmark verdict in July last year in which it upheld Islamabad’s position and rejected the European Union’s decision on countervailing duties imposed on the imports of PET resin from Pakistan.

The first surprise after the WTO ruling came from Turkey, which imposed safeguard measures on its imports from Pakistan. Since August, Canada has also started anti-dumping investigations against Pakistani PET resin.

The United States is the third country to initiate a dumping duty on the import of this chemical. The US Department of Commerce has already initiated a preliminary investigation against five countries, namely Pakistan, Brazil, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan.

After losing the EU market due to countervailing duties, Pakistani exporters are exploring new destinations, especially the United States, Canada and Turkey.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2018