Trade Cases
DOC Finds Dumping on CTL Plate from Brazil, South Africa, and Turkey
Written by Sandy Williams
September 16, 2016
Friday, the Department of Commerce announced its affirmative preliminary determinations in the antidumping investigations of imports of certain carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length plate (CTL plate) from Brazil, South Africa, and Turkey.
CTL plate is a flat-rolled carbon and alloy steel product that is 4.75 mm or more in thickness and that has a defined length (i.e., it is not in coils). CTL plate is used in a wide variety of applications including welded load-bearing and structural applications such as in buildings or bridgework; transmission towers and light poles; agricultural, construction, and mining equipment; machine parts and tooling; heaving transportation equipment like ships, rail cars, tankers and barges; and large diameter line pipe.
Commerce preliminarily determined that imports of CTL plate from Brazil, South Africa, and Turkey have been sold in the United States at dumping margins of 74.52 percent, 87.72 percent to 94.14 percent, and 42.02 percent to 50.00 percent, respectively. Mandatory respondents from all three countries were assigned margins based on adverse facts for failing to cooperate in the investigation.
Customs and Border Protection will be instructed to collect cash deposits based on the preliminary rates.
Critical circumstances were found by Commerce to exist for all exporters from Brazil and Turkey. Duties for these two countries will be retroactive effective 90 days prior to the Sept. 7, 2016 decision by Commerce.
The petitioners in this investigation are ArcelorMittal USA, Nucor, and SSAB.
Next Steps
Commerce is scheduled to announce its final determinations on Nov. 30, 2016, followed by a final determination of injury by the ITC in January 2017. If both determinations are affirmative, antidumping orders will be issued.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Trade Cases
Mills allege ‘critical circumstances’ in CORE trade case vs. South Africa, UAE
"Recent activity in the marketplace strongly indicates that these imports are being rushed into the United States in an effort to avoid the imposition of antidumping duties," petitioners said.
European Commission eyes retaliation vs. Trump steel tariffs: Report
The European Commission is looking into making current quotas on steel imports stricter as a countermeasure to President Trump’s recently announced tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to the US, according to an article in Reuters.
Trump could levy tariffs on auto imports in April: Report
President Donald Trump said last week that he could place tariffs on auto imports, according to an article in Politico.
Section 232 tariffs are headed downstream
The Trump administration has revealed the list of derivative steel products being added to the Section 232 tariff list.
Leibowitz: In Trump’s brave new world of tariffs, what will stick and what will courts challenge?
With a chronic trade deficit, the administration will continue to cite more tariffs as necessary. This is in error, as noted above. Yet the base of President Trump’s support does not see it that way. More tariffs are possible. But the only way to reduce the US trade deficit substantially is to close the gap between savings and investment in the United States.