US to levy punitive duties on steel products

WASHINGTON - The International Trade Commission (ITC) of the United States on Thursday said in a final ruling that an American industry is materially injured by reason of imports of non-oriented electrical steel (NOES), a cold-rolled and flat-rolled alloy steel product, paving the way for the US government to levy punitive duties on the products.

The US Department of Commerce will issue antidumping duty orders on imports of these products from Chinese mainland and Taiwan, Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Sweden, as a result of this affirmative determination. The department will also issue countervailing duty orders on imports of these products from Chinese mainland and Taiwan, said ITC in a statement.

As the US steel industry has been struggling with excess steelmaking capacity around the world and has posted net losses in four of the past five years, US steel producers have increasingly resorted to trade protection.

Last month, the Commerce Department announced its final determination that these products from Chinese mainland and Taiwan were sold in the US market with dumping margins of 407.52 percent, 27.54 percent to 52.23 percent, respectively. The dumping margins for products from Germany, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Sweden ranged from 6.88 percent to 204.79 percent.

The department also determined that producers and exporters of NOES from Chinese mainland and Taiwan received countervailing subsidy rates of 158.88 percent, 8.8 percent to 17.12 percent, respectively.

The Commerce Department launched the investigation in November 2013, in response to a petition filed by AK Steel Corporation, a US steel producer based in the state of Ohio.

Last year, imports of NOES from Chinese mainland and Taiwan were estimated at $11.9 million and $8.1 million, respectively, according to US official data.

Beijing has repeatedly urged Washington to honor its commitment against protectionism and work with China to maintain a free, open and just trade environment.

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