Brazil Resolução Gecex nº 778/2025 — Definitive Anti-Dumping Duties on Synthetic Polyester Fibres from China, India, Thailand, Vietnam

Mechanism

Resolução Gecex nº 778/2025 was approved at the 228th ordinary GECEX meeting on 27 August 2025, signed on 28 August 2025, and entered into force upon publication in the Diário Oficial da União (DOU) on 1 September 2025. It applies definitive anti-dumping duties for up to five years to synthetic polyester fibres (staple fibres, not carded, combed, or otherwise processed for spinning) classified under NCM 5503.20.90.

The investigation was opened after ABRAFAS filed a petition in October 2023. A provisional measure (Resolução Gecex 653/2024) was applied from October 2024 for up to six months while the final determination was prepared. The definitive measure replaces and supersedes the provisional one.

Duty schedule (specific tariffs, USD per metric tonne):

Approximately 80+ Chinese exporters are individually named in the resolution annex with their applicable rates; unregistered producers default to the residual USD 390.94/t country rate.

Downstream implications

• Brazil is a meaningful regional consumer of polyester staple fibre (PSF) used in apparel, home textiles, and non-woven applications; the measure increases landed costs for importers of Chinese PSF by ~$391/t absent a Hengyi-group supply relationship.
• Zhejiang Hengyi's preferential rate (USD 74.98 vs USD 390.94) reflects its cooperation with the investigation and company-specific dumping margin calculation — a standard AD practice; it structurally advantages Hengyi-origin product over Chinese peers within Brazil.
• The two named Thai/Vietnamese exclusions (Zhongthai and Vietnam New Century) suggest these producers demonstrated either non-dumped pricing or no material injury nexus during the investigation; they retain duty-free access to Brazil's market.
• The measure adds to Brazil's growing suite of GECEX trade-remedy actions targeting Asian manufactured goods (cf. Gecex 765/2025 on Chinese carbon-steel sheets from the same August 2025 meeting).

Open questions

• Sunset review timing: the five-year clock runs through approximately 1 September 2030; watch for DECOM-initiated reviews from 2028.
• Malaysia absent: the original ABRAFAS petition named Malaysia alongside China/India/Thailand/Vietnam, but Malaysia is excluded from the definitive measure — check DECOM's final determination for the evidentiary basis of this exclusion.
• WTO notification: Brazil is obligated to notify the AD measure to the WTO Antidumping Committee; watch for the WT/DS notification if affected exporters challenge.