Analysis
February 3, 2026
Commerce finds Omani pipe made from Chinese HR skirts US import duties
Written by Laura Miller
The US Department of Commerce has found that certain steel pipe rolled in Oman using Chinese hot-rolled coil is illegally circumventing anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVDs).
The pipe in question is circular welded carbon quality steel pipe, more commonly known as standard or structural pipe.
After conducting a circumvention inquiry, Commerce determined that Chinese HR steel was rolled in Oman and then exported to the US. By processing the pipe in Oman, companies avoided paying the AD/CVDs that Chinese pipe is subject to.
As a result, Commerce has instructed US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect duties on any subject pipe that has entered the country since Nov. 19, 2024. CBP will collect duties at the rates Chinese pipe faces: 85.55% for ADs and 39.01% for CVDs.
In a Federal Register announcement, Commerce noted that subject pipe completed in Oman from HR steel that is not of Chinese origin is not subject to this circumvention inquiry.
Domestic interested parties involved in this circumvention case include Bull Moose Tube, Maruichi America Corp., Wheatland Tube, and the United Steelworkers union. Oman’s Al Jazeera Steel Products Co. also participated.
Commerce has found several instances in recent years of pipe imports being processed in one country using substrate from another. The department can view that as duty circumvention if the substrate is subject to AD or CVD orders.
In 2023, for example, the agency found standard pipe and structural tubing from Vietnam was made using HR from China, Taiwan, Korea, and India.
Neither is seamless pipe immune to duty evasion practices. In August 2025, Commerce preliminarily found that seamless OCTG completed in Thailand using Chinese steel billets was also skirting duties.
