Trade Cases
OCTG Imports from Argentina, Mexico, Russia Under Investigation
Written by Tim Triplett
November 19, 2021
At the direction of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the U.S. Commerce Department will continue to investigate oil country tubular goods (OCTG) imports from Argentina, Mexico and Russia that are allegedly being subsidized and dumped in the U.S. at below fair value.
In a Nov. 19 vote, the USITC ruled there is reasonable indication that the U.S. industry is being materially injured by unfair OCTG imports from the three nations. It accuses the governments of Russia and South Korea of subsidizing their OCTG producers.
The investigation covers hollow steel products of circular cross section including seamless or welded oil well casing and tubing, as well as OCTG coupling stock.
Petitioners in the case include Borusan Mannesmann Pipe U.S., PTC Liberty Tubulars, U.S. Steel Tubular Products, Welded Tube USA and the AFL-CIO.
The Commerce Department will issue its preliminary countervailing duty determinations by Dec. 30 and its preliminary antidumping duty determinations by March 15, 2022.
According to the filing, U.S. producers had OCTG shipments of $2.1 billion in 2020. Imports from the nations in question amounted to $493 million of a total $3.1 billion in U.S. consumption.
Unfair imports of OCTG products don’t just impact producers of tubular goods. The OCTG sector is a major consumer of the flat-rolled steel and plate produced in the U.S.
By Tim Triplett, Tim@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest 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.