Trade Cases
SDI Targets Japan with Circumvention Case Against Vietnamese Coated Sheet
Written by Michael Cowden
November 23, 2021
Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) has filed a duty circumvention case against coated flat-rolled steel from Vietnam made from Japanese substrate.
The Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker thinks that “minor alterations” such as coating represent an attempt to circumvent existing antidumping and countervailing duty orders on hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil from Japan.
The U.S. Commerce Department has already ruled in favor of domestic steelmakers in similar cases targeting coated product made in Vietnam from substrate melted in China, Taiwan and South Korea.
Japanese hot-rolled and cold-rolled coil have been “following the same path” that substrate from China, Taiwan and South Korea did previously, SDI said in a filing earlier this month written by Washington, D.C.-based law firm Schagrin Associates and addressed to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo.
“In each case, the circuitous production path has allowed the continuation of low-priced imports that remain injurious to the domestic steel industry,” the filing alleged.
SDI also noted that successful circumvention cases had been filed against coated product from the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia and Costa Rica originating from Chinese substrate and against coated product from Malaysia originating from Taiwanese substrate.
The text of the filing in addition raised the prospect of duty circumvention cases being extended to other countries already subject to antidumping and/or countervailing duty orders on hot-rolled, cold-rolled rolled or coated product resulting from a raft of trade petitions filed in 2015-16.
That list includes not only Japan but also Australia, Brazil, China, India, Italy, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
Domestic mills will have a hard time claiming they need relief after posting record quarterly profits thanks to U.S. steel prices that are the highest in the world, some market observers said. But others said the case – should it serve as a template for future cases – has the potential to alter the domestic supply landscape.
The petition also comes as some North American mills have expressed concern about lower priced coated products – such as galvanized and Galvalume – potentially making substantial inroads against domestic steel in the first half of 2022.
By Michael Cowden, Michael@SteelMarketUpdate.com
Michael Cowden
Read more from Michael CowdenLatest 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.