Plastic Shelf Divider With Magnetic Attachment Not Subject to Flexible Magnets Duties
Plastic retail shelf dividers that use raw flexible magnets to affix them into place are not covered by antidumping and countervailing duties on raw flexible magnets from China (A-570-922/C-570-923), the Commerce Department said in a recent scope ruling. Though magnets attached to plastic are generally covered by the scope of the orders, the plastic used in the shelf dividers renders the magnets inflexible and not subject to AD/CVD, Commerce said.
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Imported by Fasteners for Retail, which does business as Siffron, the plastic shelf dividers consist of a raw flexible magnet attached by adhesive tape to the base of a T-shaped or L-shaped plastic blade, which can be either clear or opaque. The shelf divider is designed to sit on retail shelving, with the raw flexible magnet on the bottom allowing it to be moved without leaving a sticky residue on the shelf.
The scope of the AD/CVD orders on raw flexible magnets says magnets may still be covered even if they are fully or partially bonded to paper, plastic or other materials of any composition or color. Based on this language, Siffron’s plastic shelf dividers would be subject to AD/CVD.
However, Commerce has in previous scope rulings found that when the other material to which the raw flexible magnet is bound is “functionally inflexible,” the magnet itself becomes inflexible, and should be outside the scope of the AD/CVD orders. The International Trade Commission in its injury determination on raw flexible magnets also indicated that, to be a flexible magnet, it must be able to be “twisted, bent, slit, punched, coiled, or otherwise molded into any shape without losing its magnetic properties.”
Despite domestic petitioners’ contention that the magnets remain flexible when attached to Siffron’s shelf dividers, “Siffron has demonstrated that bonding raw flexible magnets with an adhesive to a plastic blade renders the plastic shelf dividers inflexible to the extent that the plastic shelf divider cannot be manipulated without damaging the product,” Commerce said.
“By bending, twisting, or manipulating the plastic shelf divider, the plastic blade component of the shelf divider is rendered damaged because the plastic blade: (1) loses the opacity that is a required feature of the plastic shelf dividers; (2) does not return back to its desired shape to function as a retail shelf organizer; and (3) loses its function as a plastic shelf divider,” Commerce said. “These facts … support a determination that Siffron’s plastic shelf dividers are excluded from the scope of the Orders.”