# Paper File Folders From Sri Lanka: Antidumping Duty Order
**AGENCY:**
Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, Department of Commerce.
**SUMMARY:**
Based on affirmative final determinations by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), Commerce is issuing an antidumping duty (AD) order on paper file folders (file folders) from Sri Lanka.
**DATES:**
Applicable September 29, 2025.
**FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:**
Samuel Frost, AD/CVD Operations, Office V, Enforcement and Compliance, International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20230; telephone: (202) 482-8180.
**SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:**
**Background**
In accordance with sections 735(d) and 777(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930, as amended (the Act), on August 8, 2025, Commerce published its affirmative final determination of sales at less than fair value (LTFV) of file folders from Sri Lanka. [^1]
[^1]*See Paper File Folders from Sri Lanka: Final Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less-Than-Fair Value,* 90 FR 38460 (August 8, 2025).
On September 22, 2025, pursuant to section 735(d) of the Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its final affirmative determinations that an industry in the United States is materially injured by reason of dumped imports of file folders from Sri Lanka within the meaning of section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act. [^2]
[^2]*See* ITC's Letter, “Notification of ITC Final Determination,” dated September 22, 2025.
**Scope of the Order**
The product covered by this order is file folders from Sri Lanka. For a complete description of the scope of the order, *see* the appendix to this notice.
**AD Order**
On September 22, 2025, in accordance with section 735(d) of the Act, the ITC notified Commerce of its final determination that an industry in the United States is materially injured, within the meaning of section 735(b)(1)(A)(i) of the Act, by reason of imports of file folders from Sri Lanka that are sold in the United States at LTFV. Therefore, in accordance with sections 735(c)(2) and 736(a) of the Act, Commerce is issuing this AD order. Because the ITC determined that imports of file folders from Sri Lanka are materially injuring a U.S. industry, unliquidated entries of such merchandise from Sri Lanka, entered or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, are subject to the assessment of antidumping duties.
Therefore, in accordance with section 736(a)(1) of the Act, Commerce will direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to assess, upon further instruction by Commerce, antidumping duties equal to the amount by which the normal value of the merchandise exceeds the export price (or constructed export price) of the merchandise on all relevant entries of file folders from Sri Lanka. Antidumping duties will be assessed on unliquidated entries of file folders entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after May 29, 2025, the date of publication of the *Preliminary Determination,*[^3] but will not include entries occurring after the expiration of the provisional measures period and before publication of the ITC's final injury determination, as further described below.
[^3]*See Paper File Folders from Sri Lanka: Preliminary Affirmative Determination of Sales at Less Than Fair Value,* 90 FR 22696 (May 29, 2025) ( *Preliminary Determination* ).
**Continuation of Suspension of Liquidation and Cash Deposits**
Except as noted in the “Provisional Measures” section of this notice, in accordance with section 736 of the Act, Commerce intends to instruct CBP to continue to suspend liquidation on all relevant entries of file folders from Sri Lanka, effective on the date of publication of the ITC's final affirmative injury determination in the *Federal Register* . These instructions suspending liquidation will remain in effect until further notice.
Commerce also intends to instruct CBP to require cash deposits equal to the estimated dumping margins as indicated in the table below. Accordingly, effective on the date of publication in the *Federal Register* of the ITC final injury determination, CBP must require, at the same time that importers would normally deposit estimated duties on the merchandise, a cash deposit equal to the rates listed below. The all-others rate applies to all producers or exporters not specifically listed, as appropriate.
**Estimated Dumping Margins**
The estimated dumping margins are as follows:
| Exporter/producer | Dumping |
| --- | --- |
| Lanka Educational Products Pvt Ltd | * 91.28 |
| All Others | 57.43 |
**Provisional Measures**
Section 733(d) of the Act states that suspension of liquidation pursuant to an affirmative preliminary determination may not remain in effect for more than four months, except where exporters representing a significant proportion of exports of the subject merchandise request that Commerce extend the four-month period to no more than six months. Commerce published its affirmative *Preliminary Determination* on May 29, 2025. Commerce's *Final Determination* was not extended and was published on August 8, 2025. Therefore, the four-month period beginning on the date of the publication of the *Preliminary Determination* ended on September 25, 2025. Pursuant to section 737(b) of the Act, the collection of cash deposits at the rates listed above will begin on the date of publication of the ITC's final injury determination.
Therefore, in accordance with section 733(d) of the Act, Commerce will instruct CBP to terminate the suspension of liquidation and to liquidate, without regard to antidumping duties, unliquidated entries of file folders from Sri Lanka entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, for consumption on or after September 26, 2025, the first day provisional measures were no longer in effect, until and through the day preceding the date of publication of the ITC's final injury determination in the *Federal Register* . Suspension of liquidation and the collection of cash deposits will resume on the date of publication of the ITC's final determination in the *Federal Register* .
**Establishment of the Annual Inquiry Service Lists**
On September 20, 2021, Commerce published the *Final Rule* in the *Federal Register* . [^4] On September 27, 2021, Commerce also published the *Procedural Guidance* in the *Federal Register* . [^5] The *Final Rule* and *Procedural Guidance* provide that Commerce will maintain an annual inquiry service list for each order or suspended investigation, and any interested party submitting a scope ruling application or request for circumvention inquiry shall serve a copy of the application or request on the persons on the annual inquiry service list for that order, as well as any companion order covering the same merchandise from the same country of origin.
[^4]*See Regulations to Improve Administration and Enforcement of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Laws,* 86 FR 52300 (September 20, 2021) ( *Final Rule* ).
[^5]*See Scope Ruling Application; Annual Inquiry Service List; and Informational Sessions,* 86 FR 53205 (September 27, 2021) ( *Procedural Guidance* ).
In accordance with the *Procedural Guidance,* for orders published in the *Federal Register* after November 4, 2021, Commerce will create an annual inquiry service list segment in Commerce's online e-filing and document management system, Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Electronic Service System (ACCESS), available at *https://access.trade.gov,* within five business days of publication of the notice of the order. Each annual inquiry service list will be saved in ACCESS, under each case number, and under a specific segment type called “AISL-Annual Inquiry Service List.” [^6]
[^6] This segment will be combined with the ACCESS Segment Specific Information (SSI) field which will display the month in which the notice of the order or suspended investigation was published in the *Federal Register**,* also known as the anniversary month. For example, for an order under case number A-000-000 that was published in the *Federal Register* in January, the relevant segment and SSI combination will appear in ACCESS as “AISL-January Anniversary.” Note that there will be only one annual inquiry service list segment per case number, and the anniversary month will be pre-populated in ACCESS.
Interested parties who wish to be added to the annual inquiry service list for an order must submit an entry of appearance to the annual inquiry service list segment for the order in ACCESS within 30 days after the date of publication of the order. For ease of administration, Commerce requests that law firms with more than one attorney representing interested parties in an order designate a lead attorney to be included on the annual inquiry service list. Commerce will finalize the annual inquiry service list within five business days thereafter. As mentioned in the *Procedural Guidance,*[^7] the new annual inquiry service list will be in place until the following year, when the *Opportunity Notice* for the anniversary month of the order is published.
[^7]*See Procedural Guidance,* 86 FR at 53206.
Commerce may update an annual inquiry service list at any time as needed based on interested parties' amendments to their entries of appearance to remove or otherwise modify their list of members and representatives, or to update contact information. Any changes or announcements pertaining to these procedures will be posted to the ACCESS website.
**Special Instructions for Petitioner and Foreign Governments**
In the *Final Rule,* Commerce stated that, “after an initial request and placement on the annual inquiry service list, both petitioners and foreign governments will automatically be placed on the annual inquiry service list in the years that follow.” [^8] Accordingly, as stated above, the petitioner and the Government of Sri Lanka should submit their initial entries of appearance after publication of this notice in order to appear in the first annual inquiry service lists for this order. Pursuant to 19 CFR 351.225(n)(3), the petitioner and the Government of Sri Lanka will not need to resubmit their entries of appearance each year to continue to be included on the annual inquiry service list. However, the petitioner and the Government of Sri Lanka are responsible for making amendments to their entries of appearance during the annual update to the annual inquiry service list in accordance with the procedures described above.
[^8]*See Final Rule,* 86 FR at 52335.
**Notification to Interested Parties**
This notice constitutes the AD order with respect to file folders from Sri Lanka pursuant to section 736(a) of the Act. Interested parties can find a list of AD and countervailing duty orders currently in effect at *https://enforcement.trade.gov/stats/iastats1.html.*
This order is issued and published in accordance with section 736(a) of the Act and 19 CFR 351.211(b).
Dated: September 24, 2025.
Christopher Abbott,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy and Negotiations, performing the non-exclusive functions and duties of the Assistant Secretary for Enforcement and Compliance.
**Appendix**
**Scope of the Order**
The products within the scope of this order are file folders consisting primarily of paper, paperboard, pressboard, or other cellulose material, whether coated or uncoated, that has been folded (or creased in preparation to be folded), glued, taped, bound, or otherwise assembled to be suitable for holding documents. The scope includes all such folders, regardless of color, whether or not expanding, whether or not laminated, and with or without tabs, fasteners, closures, hooks, rods, hangers, pockets, gussets, or internal dividers. The term “primarily” as used in the first sentence of this scope means 50 percent or more of the total product weight, exclusive of the weight of fasteners, closures, hooks, rods, hangers, removable tabs, and similar accessories, and exclusive of the weight of the packaging.
Subject folders have the following dimensions in their folded and closed position: lengths and widths of at least 8 inches and no greater than 17 inches, regardless of depth.
The scope covers all varieties of folders, including but not limited to manila folders, hanging folders, fastener holders, classification folders, expanding folders, pockets, jackets, and wallets.
Excluded from the scope are:
• mailing envelopes with a flap bearing one or more adhesive strips that can be used permanently to seal the entire length of a side such that, when sealed, the folder is closed on all four sides;
• binders, with two or more rings to hold documents in place, made of paperboard or pressboard encased entirely in plastic;
• binders consisting of a front cover, back cover, and spine, with or without a flap; to be excluded, a mechanism with two or more metal rings must be included on or adjacent to the interior spine;
• non-expanding folders with a depth exceeding 2.5 inches and that are closed or closeable on the top, bottom, and all four sides ( *e.g.,* boxes or cartons);
• expanding folders that have: (1) 13 or more pockets; (2) a flap covering the top; (3) a latching mechanism made of plastic and/or metal to close the flap; and (4) an affixed plastic or metal carry handle;
• folders that have an outer surface (other than the gusset, handles, and/or closing mechanisms, if any) that is covered entirely with fabric, leather, and/or faux leather;
• fashion folders, which are defined as folders with all of the following characteristics: (1) plastic lamination covering the entire exterior of the folder; (2) printing, foil stamping, embossing ( *i.e.,* raised relief patterns that are recessed on the opposite side), and/or debossing ( *i.e.,* recessed relief patterns that are raised on the opposite side), covering the entire exterior surface area of the folder; (3) at least two visible and printed or foil stamped colors (other than the color of the base paper), each of which separately covers no less than 10 percent of the entire exterior surface area; and (4) patterns, pictures, designs, or artwork covering no less than thirty percent of the exterior surface area of the folder;
• portfolios, which are folders having: (1) a width of at least 16 inches when open flat; (2) no tabs or dividers; and (3) one or more pockets that are suitable for holding letter size documents and that cover at least 15 percent of the surface area of the relevant interior side or sides; and
• report covers, which are folders having: (1) no tabs, dividers, or pockets; and (2) one or more fasteners or clips, each of which is permanently affixed to the center fold, to hold papers securely in place.
Imports of the subject merchandise are provided for under Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) category 4820.30.0040. Subject imports may also enter under other HTSUS classifications. While the HTSUS subheading is provided for convenience and customs purposes, the written description of the scope of this order is dispositive.