US Candle Industry Prevails in International Trade Litigation

The National Candle Association has announced that the U.S. Court of International Trade has upheld a customs duty on petroleum wax candles imported from China. This ruling will continue to protect U.S. candle manufacturers and their suppliers from the unfair dumping of inexpensive petroleum wax candle imports from China.Private label candles

The Trade Associates Group, Ltd., a U.S. importer of candles, had contested the 108.3 percent duty that applies to all petroleum wax candles from China, regardless of the candles' shape, with the limited exception of birthday candles, utility candles, and figurines. The case has been resolved by the Court of International Trade, and the Trade Associates Group, Ltd., agrees to withdraw from the case with prejudice, meaning they cannot bring the case again.

"This is a win for American-made candles. We hope that this ruling will send a clear message to anyone trying to circumvent the antidumping duty," said Carol Freysinger, executive vice president, National Candle Association. "We will fight to the end to protect fair and reasonable competitive balance for the U.S. candle industry."

The U.S. candle industry history of trade defense dates back to the 1970s, when the industry was first threatened with inexpensive candles imported from China, driving many U.S. candle companies out of business. In response, the National Candle Association filed an antidumping petition with the International Trade Commission. The U.S. Government's antidumping duty started at 54.21 percent in 1986, and was eventually raised to 108.3 percent on the basis of continued and escalating dumping of cheap Chinese candle imports.

In August 2011, the scope of the antidumping duty order was further clarified, so that the import duty applied to all shapes, sizes, styles and types of candles imported from China containing any amount of petroleum wax, with three very narrowly defined exclusions: birthday candles, utility candles and figurine candles.

Prior to the U.S. duty, between 1979 and 1984, the volume of Chinese candle imports increased 3,700 percent. The effect of the antidumping duty on the U.S. candle industry has been significant. In 1986, the first year the duty was put into place, China ranked as the number one importer of candles into the U.S. Today, China ranks 5th as a candle importer, behind Vietnam, Canada, Mexico and India, according to industry data source Argus Global Waxes.

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