[author: Saud Aldawsari]
In September, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) made affirmative determinations that imports of cold-rolled and hot-rolled steel flat products from several countries injure or threaten to injure U.S. producers of these products. Together with an affirmative decision on imports of corrosion-resistant steel products in June 2016, the ITC’s decisions mark a historic moment, as it is the first time in history where duties are imposed on cold-rolled, hot-rolled, and corrosion-resistant steel products simultaneously.
Cold-Rolled Steel
On September 2, the ITC announced its affirmative determination that an industry in the United States is materially injured or threatened with material injury by imports of cold-rolled steel flat products from Brazil, India, Korea, Russia, and the United Kingdom. This follows an affirmative vote in June that cold-rolled steel flat products from China and Japan injure the U.S. industry. The petitioners for this investigation are AK Steel Corporation, ArcelorMittal USA LLC, Nucor Corporation, Steel Dynamics, Inc., and United States Steel Corporation.
The ITC’s decision comes after the Department of Commerce’s (Commerce) affirmative determination that imports of these products are sold at less than fair value and subsidized by the Governments of Brazil, India, Korea, and Russia. As a result of these determinations, Commerce issued countervailing duty orders for imports from Brazil, India, and Korea. Commerce calculated countervailing duty rates of 11.09 to 11.31 percent for imports from Brazil, 10 percent for imports from India, and 3.89 to 59.72 percent for imports from Korea. Commerce issued antidumping orders for imports from Brazil, India, Korea, and the United Kingdom. Commerce calculated dumping margins of 19.58 to 35.43 percent for Brazil, 7.6 percent for India, 6.32 to 34.33 percent for Korea, and 5.4 to 25.17 percent for the United Kingdom.
Hot-Rolled Steel
On September 12, the ITC announced its affirmative determination that an industry in the United States is materially injured by imports of hot-rolled steel flat products from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The decision comes after Commerce’s affirmative determination that the products are sold in the United States at less than fair value and subsidized by the governments of Brazil, Korea, and Turkey. The petitioners for this investigation are AK Steel Corporation, ArcelorMittal USA, LLC, Nucor Corporation, SSAB Enterprises, LLC, Steel Dynamics, Inc., and United States Steel Corporation.
As a result of the Commission’s determinations, Commerce will issue countervailing orders on imports of these products from Brazil and Korea. Commerce calculated countervailing duty rates of 11.09 to 11.30 percent for Brazil and 3.89 to 57.07 percent for Korea. No countervailing duty order will be issued on imports from Turkey because the ITC found that subsidized imports from Turkey were negligible.
Commerce will issue antidumping orders on imports of these products from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. Commerce calculated dumping margins of 29.37 percent for Australia, 33.14 to 34.28 percent for Brazil, 4.99 to 7.51 percent for Japan, 3.89 to 9.49 percent for Korea, 3.73 percent for the Netherlands, 3.66 to 7.15 percent for Turkey, and 33.06 percent for the United Kingdom.
