Trade Cases
Coated trade case alleges hefty dumping margins
Written by Laura Miller
September 6, 2024
Domestic mills have alleged substantial dumping margins in the trade case targeting imports of corrosion-resistant flat-rolled steel.
The case’s petitioners, Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI), Nucor, U.S. Steel, Wheeling-Nippon Steel, and the United Steelworkers (USW) union, filed the case on Sept. 5.
The case asserts that Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Taiwan, Australia, and South Africa have been dumping coated flat-rolled steel in the US at prices below market value.
The table below shows the dumping margins alleged in the petition reviewed by SMU.
| Country | Min. | Max. | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 45.5% | 51.35% | 48.42% |
| Brazil | 47.0% | 99.5% | 75.7% |
| Canada | 19.1% | 51.3% | 35.0% |
| Mexico | 26.67% | 41.08% | 34.16% |
| Netherlands | 12.8% | 20.6% | 15.6% |
| South Africa | 51.96% | 52.02% | 51.99% |
| Taiwan | – | – | 67.9% |
| Turkey | 9.4% | 24.47% | 16.39% |
| UAE | 76.96% | 78.41% | 77.68% |
| Vietnam | – | – | 158.83% |
The trade case petition also argues that producers in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Vietnam have benefited from government subsidies.
Veteran trade attorney Roger Schagrin of Schagrin Associates and lead counsel for SDI and the USW told SMU, “While dumping cases require margin allegations, subsidy cases don’t.”
Subsidy cases “must contain evidence of the programs and use of the programs by foreign producers,” he said.
Petitioners believe they have laid out the evidence of those programs in their 9,000+ page case filing.
The Department of Commerce is tasked with determining the exact amounts of subsidies received during the period of investigation and then establishing the countervailable duty (CVD) rates.
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has scheduled a case hearing for Sept. 26 and its preliminary injury determination vote for Oct. 18.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect Mr. Schagrin’s position as lead counsel for two of the domestic petitioners, but not all.
Laura Miller
Read more from Laura MillerLatest in Trade Cases
China challenges Canada’s tariffs on steel, aluminum, EVs
China is challenging Canada’s decision to put tariffs on imports of Chinese steel, aluminum, and electric vehicles.
Leibowitz: Harris, Trump don’t talk much about steel and trade – because they (mostly) agree
By most accounts, the issues that are most important for voters in this election are the economy, immigration, and abortion. International trade policy plays a key role in at least two of those three (the economy and immigration). Both presidential candidates recognize that trade and tariffs are an important focus. And “America first” is a rallying point for both candidates.
Commerce launches investigation into imports of coated flat-rolled steel
On Thursday, the Department of Commerce announced it would initiate investigations into coated steel imports from ten countries.
Op-Ed: Despite misclassification games, import data supports surge of Mexican conduit
Barry Zekelman, chairman and CEO of Zekelman Industries, says the import data unquestionably supports the fact that imports of Mexican conduit have been surging into the US market.
Leibowitz: The Mexican steel import “surge”—and what to do about it
US presidential campaigns frequently sport an “air of unreality.” No more so than the 2024 campaign, where superlatives fly around like mosquitos. Steel trade has been a feature of political discourse for at least half a century now. Just last week, it proceeded to a new level of “unreality.” Four senators - Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) - wrote a “bipartisan” letter attacking Mexican exports of steel to the United States. They framed it as a “surge” in US steel imports from Mexico. To address this “surge,” the Senators urge the imposition of 25% tariffs on all steel imports from Mexico.