Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the affirmative final determinations in the antidumping duty (AD) investigations of imports of carbon and alloy steel wire rod (wire rod) from Belarus, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“The United States is dedicated to free, fair, and reciprocal trade with these countries, and this case was decided strictly on a full and fair assessment of the facts,” said Secretary Ross. “The Department of Commerce is committed to protecting U.S. companies being hurt by foreign manufacturers that refuse to play fair.” The Commerce Department determined that exporters from Belarus, Russia, and the UAE sold wire rod in the United States at 84.10 – 756.93 percent less than fair value.
As a result of today’s decisions, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits from importers of wire rod from Belarus (280.02 percent), Russia (436.80 – 756.93 percent), and the UAE (84.10 percent) based on these final rates. Since Commerce also found that critical circumstances exist with respect to all Russian exporters/producers, Commerce will instruct CBP to collect cash deposits retroactively on all entries of wire rod from Russia for a period beginning 90 days prior to the preliminary determinations (September 5, 2017).
In 2016, imports of wire rod from Belarus, Russia and the UAE were valued at an estimated $10.4 million, $32.3 million and $7 million, respectively.
The petitioners in these investigations are Gerdau Ameristeel US Inc. (FL), Nucor Corporation (NC), Keystone Consolidated Industries (TX), and Charter Steel (WI).
The AD law provides U.S. businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of unfairly dumped imports into the United States.
Enforcement of U.S. trade law is a prime focus of the Trump administration. From Jan. 20, 2017, through November 7, 2017, Commerce initiated 77 AD and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations – a 61 percent increase from 48 in the previous year.
Commerce currently maintains 412 AD and CVD orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.
If the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) makes affirmative final injury determinations, Commerce will issue AD orders. If the ITC makes negative final determinations of injury, the investigations will be terminated and no orders will be issued.
Click HERE for a fact sheet on today’s decision(s).
The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for vigorously enforcing U.S. trade laws and does so through an impartial, transparent process that abides by international law and is based solely on factual evidence.
Foreign companies that price their products in the U.S. market below the cost of production or below prices in their home markets are subject to AD duties.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
