Steel Mills

Mexico Imposes Duties on CR Imports from China

June 23, 2015

The Mexican government said it will impose import duties on cold-rolled steel from China following an antidumping investigation initiated by Altos Hornos de Mexico (AHMSA), Ternium and other Mexican steel companies.

The Friday, June 19 decision will put tariffs of 65.99 percent imports on imports from Baoshan Iron & Steel Co Ltd and 82.08 percent on those from Tangshan Iron and Steel Group Co Ltd. A duty of 103.41 percent will be imposed on imports from Beijing Shougang Cold Rolling Co., Shougang Jingtang United Iron & Steel Co. and all other export companies.

The investigation revealed that imports of cold-rolled steel from China grew 6,702 percent between 2010 and 2012.

AHMSA has criticized the government for slow and insufficient action against dumped imports and traders who circumvent penalties by adding other metals, such as boron and chromium, to products. As a result, Canacero requested that the Ministry of Economy initiate a process to update the standards through which unfair trade is evaluated and addressed. Miguel Elizondo, director of sales and marketing at AHMSA said the requirements to file a lawsuit must be simplified and shortened. Penalties, he said, should be retroactive as they are in the U.S., where the mere acceptance of demand to investigate causes the entry of unfair materials to stop.

Elizondo said the current decision penalizes future imports but does not affect imports that have been entering the country unfairly since 2010.

As it has done in the United States, the flood of dumped imports has pushed steel pricing down, endangering domestic producers.

Earlier this month, Mexico imposed preliminary duties on hot-rolled steel from Germany, China and France.