Trade Cases

WTO Sides with Korea on OCTG Duties
Written by Sandy Williams
November 15, 2017
A dispute over OCTG dumping duties assigned by the U.S. on imports of Korean OCTG drew mixed conclusions from a World Trade Organization dispute panel.
The WTO sided with South Korea on claims that the U.S. violated rules in the Antidumping Agreement regarding the calculation of fair value of OCTG. The panel determined that Commerce did not use data pertaining to sales of a like product from the home market of Korea to determine the value of the product. Commerce excluded line pipe and standard pipe, which Korea claimed is the same like-category as OCTG, and instead made its comparison to profit data from a multinational corporation outside of Korea.
The WTO, however, rejected Korea’s arguments regarding Commerce’s viability test and other procedural and methodology issues.
The WTO recommended that “the United States bring its measures into conformity with its obligations under the Antidumping Agreement.” Both parties have 60 days to appeal the decision.
Korean steel producers are continuing to pursue a suit with the U.S. Court of International Trade after Commerce exercised its authority in April 2017 to address market distortions by employing Section 504 of the Trade Preference Extension Act of 2015. Section 504 allows Commerce to disregard foreign cost of production in calculating antidumping duties if it determines that a “particular market situation” exists that does not reflect the cost of production in ordinary trade. Commerce included electricity subsidies in its evaluation of price distortion.
Duties were raised to a range of 2.76 to 24.92 percent from previously assigned duties of 4.0 to 6.5 percent. Final duties were assigned as follows: 24.92 percent on OCTG imports from Nexteel, 2.76 percent on SeAH Steel, and 13.84 percent on Hyundai Steel and other South Korean steelmakers.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Trade Cases
Price on Trade: The foolishness of free trade with controlled economies
It was only a matter of time before a shutdown happened. And, no, we aren’t talking about the federal government’s lapse in appropriations. On Oct. 9, Beijing announced a series of restrictions that will effectively shut down exports of rare earth elements, magnets, and certain downstream products vital to advanced manufacturing.
Trump pulls plug on trade talks with Canada after anti-tariff Reagan ad
US President Donald Trump took to social media late Thursday night to announce he was canceling trade talks with Canada.
Leibowitz: Renewed trade war with China over rare earths
On Oct.10, President Trump announced major increases in tariffs on Chinese goods. The trigger was a new regime of export controls on rare earth metals and products using those elements, including magnets, capital equipment, and catalysts for catalytic converters in cars and trucks.
Industry piles on new Section 232 steel derivative inclusion requests
The Department of Commerce received 97 submissions from producers, manufacturers, and groups seeking Section 232 tariff coverage for steel and aluminum derivative products.
Price on Trade: New EU steel tariffs don’t mean the US should weaken its stance
Any steel imports into the EU that exceed the new, lower quota level would be subject to a 50% tariff, which represents a major increase from the EU’s current 25% out-of-quota tariff. This move would largely align the EU’s steel tariff rate with Canada and the United States.
