U.S. announces Fresh Duties on Structural Steel Imports from China and Mexico

There seems to be no end to the conflict between U.S. and China as the former announced new import duties on more than USD 1 billion in imported structural steel from China and Mexico, saying manufacturers in those countries dumped product on the U.S. market.

The U.S. Department of Commerce announced the affirmative preliminary determinations in the antidumping duty (AD) investigations of imports of certain fabricated structural steel from China and Mexico, finding that exporters from China and Mexico have dumped fabricated structural steel in the United States at margins ranging from 0% to 141.38% and 0% to 30.58% respectively.

U.S. Antidumping Duty on Structural Steel Imports from China & Mexico

The Department also announced a negative preliminary determination in the AD investigation of certain fabricated structural steel from Canada. The findings were the result of a complaint lodged in February by members of the American Institute of Steel Construction in Chicago.

The decision comes after President Donald Trump in May agreed to lift punitive duties on steel from Mexico, which joined the United States and Canada in negotiating a new North American trade pact last year. In 2018, imports of fabricated structural steel from Canada, China, and Mexico were valued at an estimated USD 722.5 million, USD 897.5 million, and USD 622.4 million, respectively.

A final determination by the Commerce Department is due early in 2020 and if the preliminary findings are upheld, the duty increases could still be reversed by the US International Trade Commission, which examines whether the imports have harmed a US industry.

According to the reports, since the beginning of the current Administration, Commerce has initiated 182 new antidumping and countervailing duty investigations - a 231% increase from the comparable period in the previous administration.

Antidumping and countervailing duty laws provide country's local businesses with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of the unfair pricing of imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 492 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.