On April 14, NatureWorks LLC, the only PLA manufacturer in the United States, submitted a Section 301 trade investigation comment letter to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), requesting the U.S. government to impose tariffs on imported polylactic acid (PLA) resins and downstream products to address the structural overcapacity and unfair trade practices in China, India, and Thailand.
In the document, NatureWorks pointed out that the U.S. PLA industry is experiencing structural erosion, and the domestic manufacturing system is on the verge of collapse. While domestic demand for PLA-based 3D printing filaments and tableware continues to grow, capacity expansion is entirely concentrated overseas. The U.S. demand for 3D printing filaments heavily relies on imports, mainly from China, Thailand, and Vietnam; the tableware market is also highly dependent on imports, mainly from China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Additionally, any emerging markets, such as compostable hot and cold cups and baby diapers, are increasingly being produced in the Asia-Pacific region due to the extremely low prices of raw materials like PLA.
PLA resin consumption and PLA plastic component manufacturing have shifted to China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. NatureWorks can only sell U.S.-made PLA polymers to these overseas markets, while local tariff systems undermine the competitiveness of its products. In the U.S. market, Thai PLA benefits from duty exemptions, and current tariffs on PLA finished products remain too low to support domestic production of similar products.
To protect and enhance domestic manufacturing capabilities, rebuild the entire U.S. PLA industry chain (including resin and downstream PLA products), and continue using domestic agricultural raw materials, NatureWorks recommends raising tariffs on imported PLA. Establishing a reasonable tariff framework is a necessary measure to create a fair competition environment for U.S. PLA domestic production and is crucial to supporting the development of the PLA industry. Measures targeting only upstream resin are insufficient; effective relief must cover downstream finished products, such as 3D printing filaments and tableware, implementing comprehensive governance across the entire chain.
In response to global market changes, NatureWorks respectfully requests:
1. To include PLA (customs tariff code: 3907.70) within the scope of the Section 301 investigation;
2. To consider imposing high tariffs on imported PLA produced outside the United States;
3. To simultaneously implement tariff measures on downstream PLA products.
On March 11, 2026, the United States launched Section 301 investigations against 16 economies, citing 'excess capacity,' including China, the European Union, South Korea, Japan, India, Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Singapore, Switzerland, and Norway. The focus is to investigate whether the policies of these economies have led to manufacturing capacities far exceeding domestic and global demand, causing harm to U.S. manufacturing. The industries under investigation include: aluminum, automobiles, batteries, cement, chemicals, electronics, energy products, glass, machine tools, machinery, non-ferrous metals, paper, plastics, processed foods and beverages, robotics, satellites, semiconductors, ships, solar modules, steel, and transportation equipment. The USTR emphasized that in these areas, the United States has lost a significant amount of domestic production capacity or fallen behind foreign competitors.
Written comments for the Section 301 investigation were due by April 15, and a public hearing will be held on May 5.
