International Trade Commission Makes Affirmative Final Determinations in Critical Trade Cases on Large Diameter Welded Pipe from China and India

December 6, 2018

Washington, DC – In a victory for U.S. pipe producers, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) today made affirmative final determinations in the antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations on large diameter welded pipe (LDWP) from China and India. The ITC found that U.S. LDWP producers have been materially injured by unfairly traded imports of LDWP from these countries, paving the way for the imposition of AD/CVD orders. 

The Commission made affirmative final determinations with regard to line pipe from China and line pipe from India, with a vote of 4-1. The Commission also made a unanimous affirmative determination with regard to structural pipe from China. The Commission voted in the negative with regard to structural pipe from India (for which import levels were extremely small), and also with regard to stainless steel pipe, which was not a primary focus of the case.

“This is a very positive step for the domestic industry and its workers, which assures that very high duties will be applied to line pipe and structural pipe from China, as well as line pipe from India,” said Tim Brightbill of Wiley Rein, counsel to ALPPA.  “We appreciate the Commission’s hard work on this complex case. We look forward to the Commission’s vote on Canada, Greece, Korea and Turkey in February 2019, and we urge affirmative determinations on all four.” 

The Commerce Department already has determined that Chinese producers were dumping LDWP into the United States at a margin of 132.63% and Indian producers were dumping LDWP at a margin of 50.55%.  AD orders will be issued, imposing duties at these levels, on Chinese and Indian line pipe and on Chinese structural pipe.  In addition, Commerce found that LDWP producers in China were being unfairly subsidized at a rate of 198.49% and Indian LDWP producers were being unfairly subsidized at a rate of 541.15%.  CVD orders will be issued, imposing duties at these levels, on Indian line pipe and Chinese structural pipe. 

The ITC determination follows a January 2018 petition filed by the American Line Pipe Producers Association (ALPPA), alleging that unfairly dumped LDWP from Canada, China, Greece, India, Korea and Turkey and subsidized LDWP from China, India, Korea and Turkey is injuring the U.S. industry and threatening the industry with additional injury. The members of ALPPA include American Cast Iron Pipe Company, Berg Spiral Pipe Corp./Berg Steel Pipe Corp., Dura-Bond Industries and Stupp Corporation. U.S. pipe producers Greens Bayou Pipe Mill, JSW Steel (USA) Inc., Skyline Steel, Trinity Products LLC, and Welspun Tubular, LLC[1] also joined the petitions.

The International Trade Commission is expected to make final determinations on LDWP from Canada, Greece, India and Korea in February 2019. Commerce’s final margin calculations on these imports will be issued in early January 2019.

[1]  Welspun did not join in the AD or CVD petitions against LDWP from India.