Trade Cases

Commerce Upholds Duties on Sheet Imports from Vietnam

Written by Tim Triplett

December 17, 2019

Affirming that steel imports from Vietnam have been circumventing U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties, the Department of Commerce on Monday upheld its preliminary AD/CVD rates on imports of galvanized and cold rolled sheet from Vietnam manufactured with hot- or cold-rolled substrate from Korea and Taiwan.

Steel products produced in Korea and Taiwan, shipped to Vietnam for minor processing, and then exported to the United States as corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE) and cold-rolled steel (CRS) circumvent existing AD/CVD orders on Korea and Taiwan, Commerce found. As a result, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will continue to collect AD and CVD cash deposits as high as 456.23 percent, depending on the type and origin of the steel. The duties are retroactive to imports dating back to Aug. 2, 2018, when Commerce initiated the circumvention inquiries.

U.S. law provides that Commerce may find circumvention of AD/CVD orders when merchandise subject to an existing order is completed or assembled in a third country prior to importation into the United States. Over the past seven years, shipments of CORE from Vietnam to the United States increased from $22 million to $933 million, an increase of 4,076 percent. Additionally, shipments of CRS from Vietnam to the United States increased from $49 million to $498 million, an increase of 922 percent.

Domestic sheet producers—including AK Steel, ArcelorMittal USA, California Steel Industries, Nucor, Steel Dynamics and U.S. Steel—filed a complaint in June 2018 alleging transshipment of hot and cold rolled sheet from Korea and Taiwan through Vietnam into the U.S.

Tim Triplett

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