US Import Duty on Molded Fiber Tableware (2026)

Short answer: Since 27 January 2026 the United States has applied antidumping and countervailing import duties to thermoformed molded fiber tableware from China and Vietnam. The orders cover plates, bowls, clamshells, trays and lids. Rates are set per exporter, not per product. Goods from other origins, including India, are outside their scope.

Why the US import duty on molded fiber tableware changed sourcing

For most of the last decade, sourcing molded fiber foodservice packaging for the US market was a straightforward comparison of unit price, lead time and certification. Two orders published on 27 January 2026 changed that for anyone buying from China or Vietnam.

The duties are not a routine tariff adjustment. They are trade remedy measures, and they can be large enough to invert a sourcing decision that looked settled. An importer who agreed annual pricing in 2025 may now be paying a materially different landed cost on the same specification from the same factory.

The orders are also written far more broadly than most buyers assume. If you sell compostable foodservice packaging in the United States, it is worth reading the scope rather than relying on a supplier’s summary of it.

What the antidumping and countervailing duty orders cover

The scope is defined by manufacturing process, not by product name or marketing category. A product is covered if it is:

• formed from cellulose fibers
• thermoformed using one or more heated molds
• dried or cured in the mold

The orders list plates, bowls, clamshells, trays, lids, food and foodservice contact packaging, and consumer or other product packaging, but that list is explicitly not exhaustive.

Three details catch buyers out.

Fiber source is irrelevant

The scope covers products derived from any virgin or recycled cellulose source, naming wood, woody crops, agricultural crops, byproducts and residues, and industrial or other waste. Sugarcane bagasse, bamboo, wheat straw and recycled paperboard are all inside the scope. Describing a product as agricultural residue rather than pulp changes nothing.

Finishing and coating do not remove it

Products remain covered after hot pressing, die cutting, punching, trimming, perforating, printing, labeling, coating, laminating, embossing, repacking or denesting. Additives for grease resistance, water resistance or antimicrobial performance do not remove a product from scope either.

Fiber density is the technical marker

Thermoformed molded fiber products are described as relatively dense, with a typical fiber density above 0.5 grams per cubic centimeter, and generally smooth surfaces. That is the characteristic that separates them from bulkier wet pressed molded pulp.

Products also stay in scope when encased in exterior packaging, and when imported in combination with non subject goods. A lid packed with a bowl, or an absorbent pad added to a tray, does not take the molded fiber item out of scope. Where subject and non subject goods arrive together, only the molded fiber portion is dutiable.

Is your product in scope? The quick test

In scope	Out of scope
Thermoformed, cured in the mold, density above 0.5 g/cm3	Wet-pressed molded pulp that is not thermoformed or mold-cured
Plates, bowls, clamshells, trays, lids, foodservice packaging	Items covered by the separate paper plates orders on China, Thailand and Vietnam
Any fiber source: bagasse, bamboo, wheat straw, wood, recycled	Molded fiber that encloses prepackaged goods for final sale, such as a phone tray
Printed, coated, laminated, embossed, trimmed, denested	Goods manufactured outside China and Vietnam
Encased in exterior packaging, or packed with non-subject goods	Non-molded-fiber items packed alongside, which are assessed separately
Finished, repacked or processed in a third country

What is excluded from the molded fiber duty orders

Two exclusions are worth knowing.

Products already covered by the separate antidumping and countervailing duty orders on paper plates from China, Thailand and Vietnam are excluded from these orders. Classification between the two proceedings is therefore a real question for anyone importing both categories.

Protective packaging around a finished product is also excluded, specifically molded fiber that encloses or surrounds non subject merchandise prepackaged for final sale on importation. The molded tray inside a phone box is outside scope. A clamshell sold to a restaurant is not.

Which origins pay the duty, and which do not

The orders apply to China and Vietnam only. Molded fiber tableware manufactured in any other country is outside their scope, including India, Thailand for these particular orders, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Origin here means where the goods were actually manufactured. It is not the country of shipment, the country on the invoice, or the location of the trading company. Importers remain responsible for the declared origin, so keep the certificate of origin, the manufacturer’s details and production records aligned with what is on the entry.

Standard tariff rates continue to apply to all origins regardless, and trade remedy duties stack on top of them rather than replacing them. Commerce identifies the primary classifications as HTSUS 4823.70.0020 and 4823.70.0040, and notes that subject goods may also enter under 4823.61.20, 4823.61.40, 4823.69.20 and 4823.69.40. Confirm the exact subheading with your broker rather than assuming, because classification decides whether these orders reach your shipment at all.

Trade press has reported combined rates reaching roughly 540 percent for some Chinese producers and 260 percent for Vietnamese producers. Treat those as the outer edge of the range rather than your number. The only figure that matters for a purchase order is your own supplier’s company-specific rate.

How your antidumping duty rate is decided

There is no single headline percentage, and quoting one is misleading.

Commerce calculates antidumping and countervailing rates per exporter, and publishes them in the final determinations rather than in the orders themselves. The practical consequences for a buyer are these:

• Two factories in the same city can carry very different rates.
• Any producer or exporter not individually listed receives the country-wide rate, which is the least favorable in the set. This is the outcome for most small and unlisted suppliers.
• The rate your broker collects at entry is a cash deposit, an estimate. The final liability is settled later in an administrative review and can be higher or lower.

So the question to ask a Chinese or Vietnamese supplier is not “what is the duty”. It is “what is your company-specific rate, and are you individually named in the final determination”. If they are not named, assume the country-wide rate.

Third-country finishing does not remove the duty

This deserves stating plainly, because it is the single most expensive mistake available here.

The scope provides that thermoformed molded fiber products finished, packaged or otherwise processed in a third country remain covered where that processing would not have removed them from scope had it been carried out in the country of manufacture. Repacking, relabeling, denesting or boxing Chinese-made goods in another country does not change their origin or their duty liability.

Routing goods to disguise origin is customs fraud, not tax planning, and the penalties fall on the importer of record rather than the overseas supplier.

Genuine manufacture in another country is an entirely different thing, and it is evidenced the same way it always was: production records, capacity, raw material purchases and a factory that can be audited.

What importers should check before the next purchase order

For buyers currently importing from China or Vietnam:

1. Confirm scope. Is your product thermoformed and cured in the mold, or wet pressed? Density above roughly 0.5 g/cm3 and a smooth finish point to the former.
2. Get your supplier’s company-specific rate, in writing, and check whether they are individually listed.
3. Recalculate landed cost using cash deposit rates, not the old duty assumption, and ask your broker about exposure in future administrative reviews.
4. Check the paper plates orders if any of your range could classify there instead.
5. Review contracts for who bears duty changes. Under DDP the seller carries it. Under FOB or CIF the importer does.

For buyers evaluating alternative origins:

1. Verify manufacture, not shipment. Ask for the factory address, audit reports and production capacity.
2. Keep the compliance file intact. Duty status does not replace food-contact and compostability documentation.
3. Confirm the certification set still travels with the goods, since changing origin should not mean losing paperwork you already relied on.

You can check the wider regulatory picture for your destination markets with our free compliance checker for foodservice packaging, and see what US food-contact documentation is expected in our FDA food contact compliance guide.

Sources

The orders and their scope are public documents. Read them directly rather than relying on any supplier’s summary, including this one.

• Antidumping Duty Orders, Federal Register, 27 January 2026
• Countervailing Duty Orders, Federal Register, 27 January 2026
• USITC final injury determinations, December 2025
• US Department of Commerce, initiation of the investigations, October 2024
• USITC Publication 5964, Investigation Nos. 701-TA-739-740 and 731-TA-1716-1717

Regulatory review completed August 2026 by the Ecofy Export & Technical Team, against the Federal Register orders of 27 January 2026.

This guide is general information for procurement teams, not legal or customs advice. Classification, origin and duty liability should be confirmed with a licensed customs broker or trade counsel for your specific shipments.

Ecofy’s position on the US molded fiber duty

Ecofy manufactures molded fiber foodservice packaging in India and has exported to more than 30 countries since 2018.

• Origin is India. Our compostable clamshells, molded fiber bowls, plates, trays and lids are manufactured at our own facility, so they fall outside the scope of orders that apply to China and Vietnam. Standard tariffs still apply as normal, and we will not tell you otherwise.
• Origin is documented, not asserted. Certificate of origin, factory details and production records ship with the goods, which is what an importer of record needs if origin is ever questioned.
• The compliance file does not change. BRCGS Grade A facility certification, FDA 21 CFR 176.170 and EU 10/2011 migration testing, and PFAS-free verification by SGS and Intertek travel with every shipment. See the full certifications hub.
• We will not participate in transshipment. We manufacture what we sell. Any supplier offering to route another country’s goods through India is offering you a customs fraud exposure, not a saving.

If you are reworking a US supply chain because of these orders, we can quote against your existing specification and send samples for approval. Request a quote and documentation and we respond within 48 hours, or read our guide to sourcing for the US market first.

The questions buyers ask most about US import duty on molded fiber tableware are answered below.