Pipe Producers Petition to Accelerate Pipe Duties
09/20/2007 - Six U.S. producers of welded standard steel pipe and the United Steelworkers file a critical circumstances allegation with the U.S. Department of Commerce in pending antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on dumped and subsidized imports of circular welded pipe from China.
Six U.S. producers of welded standard steel pipe and the United Steelworkers have filed a “critical circumstances” allegation with the U.S. Department of Commerce in pending antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on dumped and subsidized imports of circular welded pipe (CWP) from China.
In their claim, the pipe producers have asked that the imposition of countervailing duties be accelerated from November 5, 2007 to August 7, 2007, and that the imposition of antidumping duties be accelerated from November 14 to August 16, 2007.
Petitions were filed on June 7, 2007 by Allied Tube & Conduit, Ipsco Tubulars, Inc., Northwest Pipe Co., Sharon Tube Co., Western Tube and Conduit Corp., and Wheatland Tube Co., as well as the United Steelworkers.
“It is clear that Chinese exporters and U.S. importers are accelerating their pipe imports into the United States to beat the normal trigger date for the collection of duties in November 2007,” said Armand Lauzon, CEO of John Maneely Co. (parent company of petitioners Wheatland Tube and Sharon Tube). “We are asking Commerce to impose the duties 90 days earlier to prevent further harm to our industry.”
Under the critical circumstances provision of U.S. law, antidumping and countervailing duties may be imposed covering the 90-day period prior to completion of Commerce’s preliminary investigation, provided that certain findings are made by Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).
The allegations just filed demonstrate that the criteria for a finding of critical circumstances are satisfied in this case. Specifically, imports of circular welded pipe from China increased by over 35% from March–May 2007 (the three months preceding the filing of the June 5 petition) to June–August 2007 (the three months immediately following the filing of the petition). There has also been a history of dumping and material injury.
If Commerce makes a final affirmative critical circumstances finding—and if the ITC determines that the imports subject to that finding are likely to undermine seriously the remedial effect of any antidumping or countervailing duty order imposed—entries of CWP after August 7, 2007, will be subject to countervailing duties and entries after August 16, 2007, will be subject to antidumping duties.
