Trade Cases
Commerce Assigns Subsidy Duties to Propane Cylinders from China
Written by Sandy Williams
October 22, 2018
Commerce has issued a preliminary affirmative determination in the countervailing duty investigation of steel propane cylinders from China.
A preliminary subsidy rate of 42.77 percent has been assigned to Shandong Huanri Group and producers and exporters in the “all other” category. A preliminary rate of 145.37 percent has been assigned to TPA Metals and Machinery and five other producers/exporters for failure to respond to the Commerce questionnaire.
The merchandise covered by this investigation is steel cylinders for compressed or liquefied propane gas (steel propane cylinders) meeting the requirements of, or produced to meet the requirements of, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Specifications 4B, 4BA, or 4BW, or Transport Canada Specification 4BM, 4BAM, or 4BWM, or United Nations pressure receptacle standard ISO 4706. Specifically excluded are seamless steel propane cylinders and propane cylinders made from stainless steel, aluminum or composite fiber material.
Commerce estimates U.S. imports of steel propane cylinders from China were valued at $89.8 million in 2017.
The petition was filed in May 2018 by Worthington Industries (Columbus, Ohio) and Manchester Tank & Equipment Co. (Franklin, Tenn.).
Commerce will make its final determination on March 4 and the ITC on April 18. If both determinations are in the affirmative, orders will be issued on April 25.
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.