US lawmakers urge USTR to include RPET in plastics trade probe
Five US members of Congress have asked US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to fold domestic RPET recycling into Section 301 investigations of foreign plastics overcapacity. They cite the loss of more than a quarter of US PET recycling capacity in the past 12 months, with seven of roughly 30 domestic reclaimers closing, and want trade remedies, tighter traceability of recycled-content claims and stronger enforcement against import misclassification. The request targets alleged excess-capacity practices in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Thailand and South Korea.
Why this mattersCheap, potentially mislabelled imported PET is undercutting US recyclers just as brand owners face rising recycled-content mandates, threatening domestic feedstock supply.
- More than a quarter of US PET recycling capacity has been lost in the past 12 months, with seven of about 30 domestic reclaimers closing
- Feedstock PET bale prices hit an all-time low of 1.44 cents/lb in April 2026, per RecyclingMarkets.Net
- Lawmakers asked USTR to examine excess-capacity practices in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Thailand and South Korea
- They requested trade remedies on PET imports under HTS subheadings 3907.61, 3907.69 and 3907.99.50
- The EU has anti-dumping duties on PET imports and Canada has opened dumping and subsidy probes into PET resin
- The US is not party to the Basel Convention, limiting export options for domestic recyclers