Commerce sets initial CVDs of 0-140% in coated steel trade case

The Commerce Department on Tuesday issued preliminary subsidy rates in the corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) trade case.

The agency set minimal countervailing duty (CVD) rates for Brazil and Mexico, mostly high rates for Vietnam, and low rates for Canada, except for one privately held distributor.

Commerce assigned that company, Nova Steel, and a handful of Vietnamese companies higher initial subsidy rates “based on facts available with adverse inferences,” it said in a fact sheet on Tuesday. Basically, these smaller companies were penalized with higher rates for failing to respond to Commerce’s initial questionnaires, veteran international trade attorney Lewis Leibowitz told SMU.

US Customs and Borders Protection (CBP) will immediately begin collecting CVDs on coated steel imports at the rates shown in the table below.

Exporter/producer	Preliminary subsidy rates
* indicates rate based on facts available with adverse inferences.
Brazil
CSN Usiminas/Ternium Brasil All others	1.72% 0.33% de minimis 1.72%
Canada
ArcelorMittal group, including Dofasco Stelco Nova Steel All others	1.21% 1.40% 41.40%* 1.22%
Mexico
Ternium Mexico Galvasid All others	1.56% 0% 1.56%
Vietnam
Hao San Group Ton Dong A Corporation 190 Steel Pipe Co. Vietnam Germany Steel JSC Vietnam Steel Pipe Co. Vina One Steel Manufacturing Corporation VNSteel All others	0.13% de minimis 0% 140.05%* 140.05%* 140.05%* 140.05%* 140.05%* 140.05%* 46.73%

Note that de minimis rates are so low that cash deposits aren’t typically required at those rates.

Updated case timeline

Commerce also announced it would appease petitioners’ request to align the final phases of the subsidy and less-than-fair-value/anti-dumping (AD) investigations.

Thus an updated case timeline is shown below. Note that CBP will only collect CVDs over the next two months, with the collection of AD duties starting in early April.

Upcoming CORE trade case events	Current due date
DOC preliminary AD margin	April 3
DOC final AD & CVD margin determination	June 17
ITC final AD & CVD final determination	August 1

CORE import statistics

Commerce also released statistics on CORE imports from the above countries in recent years, which may be of interest to our readers. These figures include galvanized and Galvalume sheet and all coated products covered in these investigations.

Country	2021	2022	2023
^{Source: US Department of Commerce}
Brazil
Volume – short tons Value per short ton	200,959 $1,301	200,991 $1,309	209,729 $926
Canada
Volume – short tons Value per short ton	1,075,834 $1,204	998,198 $1,397	1,025,527 $1,220
Mexico
Volume – short tons Value per short ton	577,556 $1,699	558,791 $1,660	525,366 $1,355
Vietnam
Volume – short tons Value per short ton	605,045 $1,034	638,655 $1,177	266,840 $905

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. Since 2007, she has held various editorial and marketing positions with steel industry publications, associations, and mills. In 2021, after a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel trade journalism, joining SMU in 2022. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.