United States Imposes New Duties On Metals Products From Mexico, China And Other Nations

The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) announced last week that it had made a preliminary decision to impose new penalties on fabricated structural steel imports from China and Mexico. In a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation, the department found exporters received subsidies at rates ranging from 30.30 to 177.43 percent, respectively.

According to Reuters, Mexican Deputy Foreign Minister Jesus Seade said the new penalties will not endanger ratification of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, which is to replace NAFTA.

In an investigation into Canadian exports, meanwhile, the DOC made a negative determination, finding exporters received countervailable subsidies at de minimis levels ranging from 0.12 to 0.45 percent. Based on the determinations for China and Mexico, the DOC will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect cash deposits from importers of fabricated structural steel from those two countries.

In 2018, imports of fabricated structural steel from Canada, China, and Mexico were valued at an estimated $722.5 million, $897.5 million and $622.4 million, respectively.

The DOC will make its final determination in this matter on or around November 19, 2019. If the decision is affirmed, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) will make its final injury determinations on or around Jan. 2, 2020.

A fact sheet with more information about this announcement is available here.

As reported by FastmarketsAMM (subscription required), the DOC also announced last week that it will impose preliminary anti-dumping and countervailing duties ranging from 0.56 percent to 13.27 percent on imports of cut-to-length plate from Belgium, France, Italy and South Korea.

Belgian exporters will face the highest penalties, from 4.91 percent to 13.27 percent, while French company Industeel France will face a preliminary anti-dumping margin of 5.29 percent, down from the previous final margin of 148.02 percent. Italian exporters Officine Tecnosider and NLMK Verona received preliminary anti-dumping margins of 1.63 percent and 1.26 percent, respectively, while all other producers in the country received a margin of 1.52 percent.

The DOC determined that 31 producers from South Korea received subsidies and set countervailing rates at 0.56 percent as a result.

The department will release the final results of its administrative review in this case within the next 120 days.