Five domestic producers of carbon and alloy steel wire rod have filed antidumping duty petitions charging that dumped wire rod imports from P.R. China, Germany and Turkey cause material injury to the domestic industry. The petitioners allege antidumping margins of 330% for P.R. China, 42 to 82% for Germany, and 31 to 78% for Turkey.

The unfair trade cases were filed in the face of a near doubling of wire rod imports from the three named countries, from approximately 958,000 tons in 2002 to over 1.8 million tons in 2004. The subject imports accounted for nearly half of all imports during the most recent 12-month period for which data are available (September 2004 to August 2005). Subject imports have similarly captured an increasing share of the U.S. market, jumping from 12% in 2002, to 23% in 2004, and reaching 28% of the domestic market in the first half of 2005.

"Imports from the PRC, Germany and Turkey have surged dramatically over the last three years, taking an ever-greater market share and inflicting severe financial distress on the domestic industry," said lead trade counsel Paul Rosenthal. "The increase in dumped imports from these countries and the disruptive low prices that are underselling the domestic industry have largely reversed the first brief period of reasonable profitability this industry has known in the last few years."

Filing the petitions starts the process by which the United States Department of Commerce will determine whether dumping exists and the United States International Trade Commission (USITC) will determine if the U.S. wire rod industry has been materially injured or threatened with material injury as a result. The USITC must reach its preliminary determination of material injury or threat of material injury within 45 days, and the Commerce Department is required to announce preliminary antidumping duties in 160 days.

Once the Commerce Department makes its preliminary determination, U.S. Customs and Border Protection will begin to require importers to pay a cash deposit or post a bond equal to the estimated dumping margin. The entire investigative process takes approximately one year, and final determinations of injury and dumping will occur in late 2006.

Petitioners for this trade case include: Connecticut Steel Corp., Wallingford, Conn.; Gerdau Ameristeel, Tampa, Fla.; Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc., Dallas, Texas; Mittal Steel USA–Georgetown, Georgetown, S.C.; Rocky Mountain Steel Mills, Pueblo, Colo.

Paul C. Rosenthal is a member of the Washington, D.C., law firm, Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC, where he practices international trade law and serves as the firm's managing partner.