U.S. to launch tariff review on Chinese candles and polyethylene shopping bags ahead of 40-year mark?

On September 1, 2026, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) issued an official notice in the *Federal Register*, launching a five-year sunset review of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders on polyethylene retail shopping bags, as well as initiating a six-year review of the antidumping duty order on petroleum wax candles. The U.S. Department of Commerce also simultaneously confirmed that the duty order reviews officially kicked off in September.

Polyethylene Retail Shopping Bags: Involved Products from Multiple Countries, with Tariffs on China as High as 77.57%

This review covers polyethylene retail shopping bags (PRCBs) from five countries: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, which are the tote T-shirt bags and checkout grocery bags commonly used in supermarkets and catering scenarios.

The product specifications require thickness of 0.00035‑0.035 inches, length and width of 6‑40 inches, with handles and non-sealable polyethylene film bags, corresponding to HTSUS subheading 3923.21.0090; non-retail plastic bags such as garbage bags and barrel liners are not within the scope of this review.

The antidumping duty order on polyethylene retail shopping bags from China took effect in 2004, with a uniform antidumping duty rate of 77.57%, a high tax rate that basically deprives domestic enterprises of their price competitiveness in the U.S. market.

Petroleum Wax Candles: Antidumping Measures in Place for 40 Years, Vegetable Oil Candles Were Once Included in Anti-circumvention Investigations

The review targets petroleum wax candles made in China, which contain fiber/paper cores and petroleum wax ingredients, excluding products with more than 50% beeswax content, under customs code 3406.00.00.

This antidumping duty order was implemented in August 1986 and has been in effect for 40 years. The current antidumping duty rate is 95.86%, and the highest historical rate once reached 108.3%. Domestic export enterprises once tried to switch to producing palm oil-based vegetable oil candles to evade tariffs. In 2005, the U.S. Department of Commerce launched an anti-circumvention investigation and included vegetable oil candles in the tax scope, and this duty order effectively locked Chinese candle products out of the U.S. market.

What is a Sunset Review: The Statutory Review Procedure for the Continuation of Duty Orders

This review is conducted in accordance with Section 751 (c) of the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930, and is a statutory five-year sunset review procedure. The core purpose of the review is to assess whether, if the antidumping and countervailing duty orders are revoked, dumping and subsidization will reoccur and whether substantial damage will be caused again to the domestic U.S. industry.

For a duty order to remain in effect, affirmative determinations from both the U.S. Department of Commerce and USITC are required; if either party issues a negative conclusion, the corresponding duty order will be revoked and antidumping duties will cease to be collected.

Review Timeline and Future Outlook

Approximately 15 days after the launch of the review is the window for U.S. domestic interested parties to submit participation intentions. If no domestic industry participants get involved, there is a possibility that the duty order will be directly revoked.

Currently, the case has just entered the filing initiation stage, and no adequacy determination has been carried out yet, with no final results available. Among past sunset review cases involving Chinese products, once the U.S. domestic industry actively participates in the response, the probability of the duty order being maintained is relatively high, and the final outcome still depends on the ruling opinions of the two agencies.