Trade Cases

HR import duties face 5-year sunset review

July 2, 2024

In place now for more than 20 years, antidumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVDs) on imports of hot-rolled (HR) steel from six countries are up for their fourth sunset review.

Background

The ADs on HR imported from China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Ukraine and CVDs on HR from India, Indonesia, and Thailand were first issued late in 2001.

The duties cover certain HR carbon steel flat products, including high-strength low alloy (HSLA) steel and the substrate for motor lamination steel.

A sunset review, conducted every five years as per international trade law, determines whether AD/CVD orders should continue or be allowed to expire or sunset.

The US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) determines if revoking the duties would lead to the continuation of dumping or subsidies. Concurrently, the International Trade Commission (ITC) determines if removing the duties would materially injure the domestic industry.

The AD/CVD orders on HR were maintained after full sunset reviews in 2007 and 2014 and an expedited third review in 2019.

2024 review

The ITA and ITC announced the initiation of the HR duty review in the Federal Register on Tuesday, July 1.

For interested parties “to be assured of consideration, the deadline for responses is July 31, 2024,” the ITC noted.

ITC commissioners plan to issue an adequacy determination on Oct. 4.

If interested parties respond adequately, a full review will be conducted. If responses show an inadequate level of interest, an expedited review will take place. In an expedited review, the ITC uses current facts available to issue a decision without holding a hearing or conducting further investigation.

As of July 2, domestic HR producers Nucor, SSAB, Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), and U.S. Steel had already expressed interest in participating in the review.

Important dates and additional information on the case can be found on the ITC website.

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.