The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) has preliminarily found that a United Kingdom company, UK Carbon and Graphite Co., Ltd. (UKCG) was unlawfully circumventing an antidumping duty order covering small diameter graphite electrodes (SDGE) from China. The preliminary determination was publicly announced on May 30, 2012. The DOC plans to issue its final decision on July 31, 2012.
The DOC found that circumvention was occurring because the UK company was importing unfinished SDGEs from China to the United Kingdom, performing minor finishing operations on these items in the UK, and exporting the finished product to the United States. The DOC rejected UKCG's claim that these SDGEs were of UK origin for purposes of the US antidumping law. UKCG's exports of these products may be subject to antidumping duties up to 159.64 percent.
The anticircumvention inquiry, like the antidumping duty proceeding, covers SDGEs which are defined as 16 inches (400 mm) or under in diameter, are produced from various grades of petroleum coke, and are used in ladle metallurgy and specialty furnace applications in industries including foundries, smelters, and steel refining operations. Graphite electrodes act as conductors of electricity in furnaces and generate heat to produce steel and other materials.
The petitioners are Superior Graphite Company and SGL Carbon LLC. They are represented in this investigation by David A. Hartquist, a partner in the International Trade and Customs Practice at Kelley Drye & Warren, LLP.