Domestic Large Diameter Pipe Industry Welcomes Commerce’s Final Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Determinations

February 22, 2019

Washington, DC—Yesterday, the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) announced its final determinations in the antidumping duty (AD) investigations of Large Diameter Welded Pipe (LDWP) from Canada, Greece, Korea, and Turkey and the countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of LDWP from Korea and Turkey. The petitioning domestic coalition of large diameter line pipe and structural pipe producers commends Commerce for its work in these investigations. The petitioners will analyze the agency’s determinations and reasoning, and will comment further after analyzing the final results. In particular, the domestic industry will analyze whether these final duty margins should increase further in subsequent annual administrative reviews of the AD/CVD orders to fully reflect the amount of dumping and subsidies by subject producers.

Commerce calculated the following final dumping margins: Canada – 12.32% (Evraz Inc. NA and all other companies); Greece – 9.96% (Corinth Pipeworks Pipe Industry S.A and all other companies); Korea – 14.97% (Hyundai RB Co., Ltd.), 7.03% (SeAH Steel Corporation), 20.39% (Samkang M&T Co., Ltd.) and 9.3% (all other companies); and Turkey – 4.55% (Borusan Mannesmann Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.), 5.05% (HDM Celik Boru Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S.) and 4.68% (all other companies).  Commerce calculated the following final subsidy margins: Korea – .01% (Husteel Co., Ltd.), .44% (Hyundai RB), 27.42% (SeAH Steel) and 9.29% (all other companies); and Turkey – .92% (Borusan) and 3.72% (HDM Celik and all other companies).

“Commerce’s final determinations confirm that subject imports from these countries are unfairly priced, and most are subsidized as well,” said Tim Brightbill, partner at Wiley Rein LLP and trade counsel to the petitioners. “For imports going forward, final duty liability is unknown and will be assessed in future administrative reviews, where duty margins are subject to increases that would apply retroactively.” 

Commerce has already issued its final determinations in AD/CVD investigations on LDWP from China and India, with substantial dumping margins of 132.63% for China and 50.55% for India, and subsidy margins of 198.49% for China and 541.15% for India. In December, the International Trade Commission (ITC) made affirmative final determinations with regard to line pipe from China and India and structural pipe from China, and Commerce will issue orders on LDWP from those countries shortly. 

The domestic industry is now awaiting the ITC’s final determinations on LDWP from Canada, Greece, Korea, and Turkey, which are expected in the coming weeks. If affirmative determinations are reached by the ITC, Commerce will impose AD/CVD orders on large diameter pipe from these countries as well, and those orders will remain in place for a minimum of five years.

The petitioners in these investigations are the American Line Pipe Producers Association (including members American Cast Iron Pipe Company, Berg Spiral Pipe Corp./Berg Steel Pipe Corp., Dura-Bond Industries and Stupp Corporation), Greens Bayou Pipe Mill, JSW Steel (USA) Inc., Skyline Steel, Trinity Products LLC, and Welspun Tubular, LLC.

The Washington, D.C.-based law firm of Wiley Rein LLP represents ALPPA on trade-related matters.