OCTG

CBP finds Chinese OCTG being transshipped via Thailand

May 30, 2024

The US OCTG Manufacturers Association (USOMA) announced that the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency made an initial affirmative determination of duty evasion practices.

CBP preliminarily found there is “reasonable suspicion” that two Thai companies, Petroleum Equipment (Thailand) Co. and Thai Oil Pipe Co., have been transshipping OCTG made in China to the US and falsely declaring it to be of Thai origin.

This effectively and illegally skirts having to pay the US ADs of 99.14% and CVDs of 27.08% that are currently in place on Chinese-origin OCTG.

Additionally, 10 US importers were also found to be importing Chinese OCTG transshipped through Thailand:

Amek Aluminum & Stainless
Centric Pipe
Copley International Group
Energy Pipe & Equipment Rentals
Kana Energy Services
LE Commodities
Lixin Energy Group
Longfellow Energy
Trek Metals
TSPGA

As such, CBP will now implement a number of interim measures, including extending and suspending the liquidation of the subject OCTG and requiring additional documentation for entry. The agency has seven months to finalize its investigation and set appropriate penalties.

“Measures like this help promote a healthy, competitive US OCTG supply chain to responsibly develop America’s energy resources with reliable, high-quality products, with a lower carbon footprint,” commented Luca Zanotti, president of Tenaris USA and chairman of USOMA.

The CBP investigation was initiated on Feb. 23, 2024, after USOMA filed an allegation of transshipment under the Enforce and Protect Act (EAPA).

The EAPA, signed into law in 2016, established procedures for any interested party to submit a claim of duty evasion. Since its implementation, CBP has launched more than 300 investigations and identified over $1 billion in AD/CVDs owed to the US government.

“Filing this EAPA allegation was the first step that USOMA has taken to combat unfairly traded imports, but it will certainly not be our last,” noted Jacky Massaglia, SVP of Vallourec North America and vice chairman of USOMA.

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held a variety of positions within the steel industry since 2007, including reporting and editing for Steel Business Briefing/Platts, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, and Kallanish Commodities, as well as marketing for what was then known as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (now AM/NS Calvert). After a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel in 2021 and has covered the flat rolled, tubular, and trade areas of the industry. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.