This morning the US International Trade Commission (ITC) voted in the preliminary phase of the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations of imports of Carbon and Alloy Steel Wire Rod from Belarus, Italy (AD/CVD), Korea, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Turkey (AD/CVD), Ukraine, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
By various votes for each country, the ITC Commissioners voted in the affirmative and found that there is “a reasonable indication” that imports of wire rod from these countries are causing or threaten to cause material injury to the domestic rod industry.
The next stage in these investigations will be conducted by the US Department of Commerce (Commerce). Commerce will send questionnaires to the significant rod producers and exporters, and eventually they will calculate subsidy and dumping margins for these companies as well as “all other” rates for the mills and exporters which are not individually investigated.
Commerce will make its preliminary countervailing determinations by late June (normal schedule) or late August (if complicated), and dumping margins by early September or late October. The margins would be in effect upon publication in the Federal Register and after the notice, the importer of record must make a cash deposit of the estimated duties in order to import shipments of rod from these countries. Announcement of the final dumping and countervailing determinations are typically aligned and announced a few weeks in advance of the ITC final injury hearing, which would likely take place either in early January or late February 2018.
In advance of the final injury hearing, the ITC will be sending questionnaires to domestic and foreign producers and importers of wire rod; and wire companies will receive Purchasers Questionnaires.
The vote today, while disappointing, was not unexpected. AWPA will provide a more detailed summary when the ITC Report is published in the next two to three weeks and will keep you informed about the details of the case as it moves forward.
Please do not hesitate to contact AWPA, if you have any questions.