The Atlas Tube division of Zekelman Industries today asked the US Department of Commerce to ensure that antidumping and countervailing duty orders covering light-walled rectangular tube also apply to octagonal tube, and to retroactively apply duties. The filing targets imports from China, Korea, Mexico and Turkey.
“Octagonal tube is essentially the same as rectangular when it comes to manufacturing methods and costs, and how it's sold,” said Tom Muth, President of HSS and Piling at Zekelman Industries, in a statement. “And it is increasingly being imported and sold for the same application, in solar panel farms. We want Commerce to make clear that foreign interests can't avoid duties by putting a few extra sides in their tubes.”
Zekelman Industries’ request today asks for a circumvention ruling and a determination by the DOC that imports of welded light-walled polygonal carbon steel pipe and tube are merely light-walled rectangular pipe and tube that have undergone a minor alteration. If the DOC agrees, the antidumping and countervailing duties now applicable to rectangular tubes would apply retroactively to imports of octagonal or other multi-sided tubes, starting on the date the DOC begins to investigate Zekelman Industries' request.
“Since 2014 there has been an increase in the volume of multi-sided tubing imports, and these imports have been displacing US-made product in the domestic market,” said Muth. “We are taking this step to ensure that unfairly traded products do not take jobs from American workers or harm US companies.”