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America’s Department of Commerce (Commerce) on Wednesday announced the initiation of anti-dumping duties (AD) and countervailing duties (CVD) investigations of imports of rubber bands from China, marking U.S.’ fourth AD and CVD investigation against China in 2018.

According to the announcement, the investigation was petitioned by Alliance Rubber Company, involving three countries including China, Thailand and Sri Lanka. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to make its preliminary injury determinations on or before March 16, 2018.

Based on relevant regulations, if ITC determines that there is a reasonable indication that imports of rubber bands from the four countries materially injured or threaten material injury to domestic industry in the U.S., the investigations will continue, while the Commerce will be scheduled to announce its preliminary CVD determinations in April and its preliminary AD determinations in July.

Statistics from the Commerce shows that imports of rubber bands from China was valued at an estimated $ 4.5 million, the highest among all three investigated countries.

China’s Ministry of Commerce on Thursday issued a notification of U.S. Commerce’s decision on its official website, without revealing China’s further moves regarding the investigation.

According to U.S. trade laws, for the purpose of AD investigations, dumping occurs when a foreign company sells a product in the U.S. less than its fair value, while for the purpose of CVD investigations, a countervailable subsidy is financial assistance from a foreign government that benefits the production of goods from foreign companies.

U.S. use of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties have been challenged by many countries, including Canada, which has launched a wide-range trade dispute against the U.S. citing almost 200 examples of alleged U.S. wrongdoing on Jan.10, with many concerning China, while South Korea issued a complaint at the World Trade Organization for U.S. use of AD and CVD relating to steel and transformer products.