WASHINGTON—The U.S. has been fighting a trade war with China over broad economic terrain—agriculture, steel, electronics. Newly entering the battlefront is a crucial American technology: the twist-tie. The yuan’s artificially low value has let China price its ties below cost, contends Bedford Industries Inc. of Worthington, Minn., which says it developed the modern plastic twist-tie and wants the U.S. to impose duties on Chinese competition. “We have been doing this for 50 years and have a really efficient process,” says Bedford President Jay Milbrandt. “It didn’t seem right to us that China could make twist-ties, ship it to the U.S., market it, all for a price where you can’t even buy the basic raw materials.”Bedford’s wiry closures are all over the supermarket—around bags of bread, lettuce leaves, containers of coffee, potato packs—and in hardware stores holding power cords and reels of hose.

Source: Wall Street Journal October 11, 2020 18:00 UTC