MECHANIC FALLS — Auburn Manufacturing Inc. has filed a petition seeking help from the federal government for “unfairly priced and subsidized Chinese imports” that threaten the specialty fabric manufacturer.

The company Thursday asked the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties on certain industrial textiles — amorphous silica fabric — from China.

A statement from the company said AMI is the largest U.S. manufacturer of silica fabric, operating two manufacturing plants in Maine, and is the principal supplier of amorphous silica fabric to the U.S. Navy.

“AMI has lost a significant number of sales to Chinese imports due to increasingly low import prices. As detailed in the petition, AMI believes that imports of silica fabric from China are being ‘dumped’ in the U.S. market at unfairly low prices,” the statement reads.

In its petition, the company offers evidence that the Chinese government is also  providing “unfair subsidies” to Chinese producers of silica fabric.

The AMI statement says the company has “has suffered decreased production, revenue and profits. AMI has seen an ever larger amount of sales be awarded to Chinese imports, especially since 2014.

“AMI believes that these imports are not compliant with either the Buy American Act (requiring over 50 percent U.S. content) or the Berry Amendment, which generally requires textiles purchased with funds allocated by the Department of Defense to be 100 percent of U.S. origin.”

Founded in Auburn in 1979, AMI is a developer and manufacturer of textile products for specific applications, including industrial insulation, safety apparel, gaskets and seals.