Unifi Manufacturing Inc., a Greensboro-based textiles company, filed a petition with the U.S. Department of Commerce alleging that illegal dumping of yarn from China and India is hurting business.

The filing is in response to surging volumes of extremely under-priced polyester textured yarn imports from China and India.

From 2013 to 2017, polyester textured yarn imports from the two countries to the U.S. grew from approximately 38.4 million pounds to 68.9 million pounds, an increase of approximately 79 percent.

“Dumping” in international trade is defined as exporting a product a much lower price than usual to drive out competition. A “dumping margin” is the percentage by which the normal price exceeds the price exporters are actually exporting their goods at.

In this case, Unifi alleges China has a dumping margin of up to 68 percent and India has a dumping margin of 40 to 130 percent.

Unifi employs over 1,500 people in its two facilities in Yadkinville and Madison, North Carolina. The company filed the petition about New Jersey-based Nan Ya Plastics Corporation, America.

The Commerce Department will determine whether to initiate the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations within 20 days of the filing and the U.S. International Trade Commission will reach a preliminary determination of material injury or threat of material injury within 45 days of filing.

The entire investigative process will take approximately one year, with final determinations of dumping, subsidization and injury likely occurring by the end of 2019.