AMI protests against Chinese textile subsidies

Auburn Manufacturing, Inc. (AMI) based in South Central Maine, an industry leader in the manufacture of high performance coated textiles and composite fabrics for extreme temperature applications also manufactures end-use products including welding blankets, curtains and pads has filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission requesting imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on certain amorphous silica fabric, an industrial textile, from the People’s Republic of China.

AMI is the largest U.S. manufacturer of silica fabric, operating two manufacturing plants in Maine. AMI is the principal supplier of amorphous silica fabric to the U.S. Navy.

The Mechanic Falls-based company also has complained that the imports fail to comply with federal requirements for the U.S. Department of Defense to buy only textiles that have at least 50 percent of U.S.-made content.

In the long run, if these unfair practices are not curbed, the U.S. military will suffer because it will be unable to source these products from U.S. companies, the company said in a news release about the petition. The filing of the petition was necessary to keep AMI as a viable supplier to the Navy and to protect textile workers in Maine.

The petition asks federal regulators to begin investigating and determine whether the Chinese government has subsidized silica fabric imports and whether those subsidies meet requirements for imposing duties on those imports.

AMI has lost a significant number of sales to Chinese imports due to increasingly low import prices. As detailed in the petition, AMI believes that imports of silica fabric from China are being “dumped” in the U.S. market at unfairly low prices. AMI also provides evidence in the petition that the Chinese government is providing unfair subsidies to Chinese producers of silica fabric.

AMI looks forward to investigations by the two U.S. government agencies to confirm AMI’s evidence of dumping, subsidization, and injury, and urges the U.S. government to impose antidumping and countervailing duties to offset the injurious effects of these dumped and subsidized Chinese imports.

AMI is certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) by the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC). AMI textiles and products are made in the USA—from yarn to finished product—at their facilities in Maine and are manufactured with the applicable laws and regulations of the FTC, the Buy American Act, and The Berry Amendment.