The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has made an affirmative injury determination in the final phase of the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation concerning certain oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from China, confirming the US Department of Commerce (DOC)'s determination that these products are subsidized and injure or pose threat of injury to the US industry.
All six Commissioners voted in the affirmative, although only two of the six Commissioners based their vote on present material injury (the other four based their affirmative determination on threat of material injury, according to an ITC press release).
As a result of the ITC's affirmative determination, the DOC will issue a countervailing duty order on imports of these products from China.
The ITC's public report on the investigation, copies of which may be obtained after February 3, 2010, will contain the views of the ITC and information developed during the investigation.
Following the news of the ITC's final determination in the CVD investigation of Chinese OCTG, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) issued a statement from Thomas Gibson, president and CEO of AISI. Mr. Gibson stated the following:
"AISI strongly supports the US International Trade Commission's unanimous ruling today in favor of US steelmakers, who have been clearly injured by high levels of unfairly traded oil country tubular goods (steel pipe used primarily in the oil and gas industries) into the US market, beginning in 2006 and continuing through the first half of 2009. This affirmative ITC final injury decision in the subsidy part of the OCTG case is an important step toward allowing our competitive domestic OCTG producers to compete on a level playing field unhindered by unfair and injurious Chinese trade practices.
At a time when the nation is struggling with double-digit unemployment, full and strict enforcement of our laws against dumped and subsidized imports of steel and other manufactured products from China is essential to maintaining a viable US manufacturing sector in the United States."