The US Department of Commerce has initiated anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations on rubber bands from China (A-570-069/C-570-070), Sri Lanka (A-542-802/C-542-803) and Thailand (A-549-835/C-549-836). The preliminary determination is due March 16th, 2018. Anti-dumping duty is an additional duty assessed on products to prevent the flooding of these items into the US market. Countervailing duty is levied when a foreign government is found to be subsidizing an industry, creating an unequal playing field in the global marketplace. A fact sheet has also been issued by the USITC.