Trade Cases
Commerce Assigns Subsidy Duties to Propane Cylinders from China
Written by Sandy Williams
October 22, 2018
Commerce has issued a preliminary affirmative determination in the countervailing duty investigation of steel propane cylinders from China.
A preliminary subsidy rate of 42.77 percent has been assigned to Shandong Huanri Group and producers and exporters in the “all other” category. A preliminary rate of 145.37 percent has been assigned to TPA Metals and Machinery and five other producers/exporters for failure to respond to the Commerce questionnaire.
The merchandise covered by this investigation is steel cylinders for compressed or liquefied propane gas (steel propane cylinders) meeting the requirements of, or produced to meet the requirements of, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Specifications 4B, 4BA, or 4BW, or Transport Canada Specification 4BM, 4BAM, or 4BWM, or United Nations pressure receptacle standard ISO 4706. Specifically excluded are seamless steel propane cylinders and propane cylinders made from stainless steel, aluminum or composite fiber material.
Commerce estimates U.S. imports of steel propane cylinders from China were valued at $89.8 million in 2017.
The petition was filed in May 2018 by Worthington Industries (Columbus, Ohio) and Manchester Tank & Equipment Co. (Franklin, Tenn.).
Commerce will make its final determination on March 4 and the ITC on April 18. If both determinations are in the affirmative, orders will be issued on April 25.
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Trade Cases
Steel groups welcome passage of budget bill
Steel trade groups praised the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill (BBB) in Congress on Thursday.
Canada moves to curb steel imports with TRQs
Canada has implemented tariff-rate quotas (TRQs) on steel imports to help stabilize its domestic market.
Commerce launches probe into unfairly traded rebar imports
Here are the details and a case timeline for the rebar trade case recently initiated by the Commerce Department.
Leibowitz on Trade: Who is winning the tariff debate?
Most economists will tell you that universal tariffs will result in inflation and reduce demand, causing a recession or worse. (After all, this is what happened in the 1930s). It is a rare product that is so essential that demand will not go down if prices go up.
Canadian steel industry fears thousands of job losses from US tariffs
The Canadian steel industry is bracing for thousands of job losses because of US tariffs, the Canadian Steel Producers Association says.