During the hearing, Alexander described how surging imports of low-priced PET are harming U.S. plastics recyclers, contributing to plant closures, job losses, and the erosion of domestic recycling infrastructure.
“In just the past 15 months, seven U.S. PET recycling facilities have shuttered, resulting in a nearly 25% loss of domestic PET recycling capacity,” Alexander said. “They closed not because of inefficiency, but because the market was distorted by a wave of low-priced imports that these facilities could not withstand.”
Alexander testified that domestic recyclers are experiencing accelerating harm from rapidly growing imports from countries APR identified as “Significant Exporter Countries” including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, and China.
“These countries are not simply competing,” Alexander said. “They are flooding the U.S. market with rapidly increasing volumes at sharply declining prices.”
Alexander highlighted import data submitted by APR to USTR showing dramatic increases in import volumes over the past several years, coupled with steep price declines. According to APR’s filing, imports from India increased more than 1,200% between 2021 and 2025 while prices fell by more than 60%. Imports from Indonesia increased by more than 1,125% over the same period, while imports from Thailand increased by more than 2,278%.
