Construction Materials
Commerce Dept. Places Duties on Fabricated Steel from Mexico, China
Canadian steel imports hit with anti-dumping charges, but not countervailing duties
The Commerce Dept has imposed anti-dumping and countervailing duties on shipments of fabricated steel from China and Mexico Jan. 24 and anti-dumping duties on fabricated steel shipments from Canada but no countervailing duties.
A countervailing subsidy is a foreign government's financial help for a foreign company's goods; the U.S. sets anti-dumping duties on companies found to have sold products below cost in U.S. markets.
Under the preliminary ruling that Commerce announced on Jan.24, Canadian imports were found to require only anti-dumping duties of a relatively tame 6.7% at U.S. border crossings.
But some Mexican fabricators were hit with as much as 99.45% in combined anti-dumping and countervailing duties, which the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency is to collect at U.S. ports of entry.
The stiffest penalties fell on Chinese importers, with anti-dumping and countervailing duties that, for some, total up to 360.63%.
A Jan. 29 hearing on the preliminary rulings has been scheduled with the U.S. International Trade Commission, which will set final anti-dumping and countervailing duty rates. Its decision is due by March 9.
In 2018, an estimated $722.5 million in steel was imported from Canada, $897.5 million from China and $622.4 million from Mexico, according to data from the American Iron and Steel Institute.
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A spokesman for the American Institute of Steel Construction, which brought the trade case on behalf of its member fabricators, declined to comment until after the hearing.
For the Canada countervailing duties investigation, Commerce found to be de minimis (less than significant) subsidy rates for Canadian producers and issued a negative determination for that investigation.
In the Canada anti-dumping investigation, however, Commerce calculated a dumping rate of 6.7% for Les Constructions Beauce-Atlas, Inc.
Canadian fabricator Canatal Industries, Inc. had a calculated dumping rate of 0% and was not initially assigned anti-dumping duties. Commerce assigned an anti-dumping duty of 6.7% to Beauce-Atlas Inc. and all other Canadian producers and exporters.
In the China anti-dumping investigation, Commerce calculated dumping rates of 61.71% and 90.52% for fabricators Jinhuan Construction Group Co. Ltd. and Wison (Nantong) Heavy Industry Co., Ltd. /Wison Offshore & Marine (Hong Kong) Limited, respectively.
Commerce imposed a dumping rate of 154.14%, based on total adverse facts, to Modern Heavy Industries (Taicang) Co. Ltd.
Commerce also assigned dumping rates of 72.19% to several Chinese companies determined to be eligible for them and 154.14% to all other Chinese fabricators and exporters.
In its countervailing duties investigation of China, Commerce calculated subsidy rates of 27.34% and 34.70% for the mandatory respondents Modern Heavy Industries (Taicang) Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Matsuo Steel Structure Co., Ltd., respectively.
Commerce assigned a subsidy rate of 206.49%, based on total adverse facts available to several Chinese companies that did not respond to Commerce's requests for information. These included: Hongju Metals Co., Ltd., Huaye Steel Structure Co., Jiangsu Kingmore Storage Equipment, Jiangsu Zhengchang Cereal Oil & Feed, Ningbo Jiangbei Huarentai Trade, Ningbo Win Success Machinery Co., Ltd., Shangdong Taipeng Home Products Co., Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co., Ltd., Sunjoy Industrial Group Limited, Sunjoy Industries (Jiashan) Co., Ltd., Wuxi Huishan Metalwork Technology Co., Ltd., and Yueqing Yihua New Energy Technology.
The subsidy rate for all other Chinese producers and exporters was set at 30.28%.
In the Mexico anti-dumping investigation, Commerce calculated dumping rates of 8.47% and zero for Mexican fabricators Building Systems de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. and Corey S.A. de C.V. / IndustriasRecal S.A. de C.V., respectively.
Commerce assigned a dumping rate of 30.58%, based on total facts available, to several non-responsive companies. They are Acero Technologia, S.A. de C.V., Construcciones Industriales Tapia S.A. de C.V., Estructuras Metalicas la Popular S.A. de C.V./MSCI, and Operadora CICSA, S.A. de C.V. Swecomex–Guadalajara.
The dumping rate for all other Mexican fabricators and exporters was set at 8.47%.
In the Mexico countervailing duties investigation, Commerce calculated subsidy rates of 0.01% and 13.62% for the Mexican fabricators Building Systems de Mexico, S.A. de C.V. and Corey S.A. de C.V., respectively.
The department assigned a subsidy rate of 68.87%, based on facts available, to the non-responsive companies Acero Technologia, S.A. de C.V., Construcciones IndustrialesTapia S.A. de C.V., Estructuras Metalicas la Popular S.A. de C.V./MSCI, Operadora CICSA, S.A. de C.V. Swecomex – Guadalajara, and Preacero Pellizzari Mexico S.A. de C.V.
The subsidy rate for all other Mexican producers and exporters was set at 13.62%.
