On Friday, March 19, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced that it has decided to align countervailing duty (CVD) and antidumping (AD) administrative reviews for certain seamless carbon and alloy steel standard, line and pressure pipe from China.
Following this decision, the final CVD determination will be issued on the same date as the final AD determination, which is currently scheduled for July 6, 2010. Previously, the DOC was expected to make its final CVD determination on May 10, 2010.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, in its preliminary CVD review determination issued on March 1, the DOC came to the conclusion that mandatory respondents Hengyang and TPCO should receive preliminary net subsidy rates of 12.97 and 11.06 percent respectively. All other Chinese exporters will receive a preliminary net subsidy rate of 12.02 percent.
The institution also preliminarily determined that ‘critical circumstances' exist for all producers/exporters of seamless pipe from China except for TPCO.
In early January this year, US Steel, along with other petitioning parties in the ongoing AD and CVD investigations relating to the product mentioned, made an allegation of critical circumstances in the proceeding and requested alignment of the two reviews.
The petitioners for the petition filed on September 16, 2009 are the United States Steel Corporation, V&M Star LP, TMK IPSCO, and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union.
The merchandise covered by the investigation is currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff
Schedule of the United States (HTSUS) under item numbers: 7304.19.1020, 7304.19.1030, 7304.19.1045, 7304.19.1060, 7304.19.5020, 7304.19.5050, 7304.31.6050, 7304.39.0016, 7304.39.0020, 7304.39.0024, 7304.39.0028, 7304.39.0032, 7304.39.0036, 7304.39.0040, 7304.39.0044, 7304.39.0048, 7304.39.0052, 7304.39.0056, 7304.39.0062, 7304.39.0068, 7304.39.0072, 7304.51.5005, 7304.51.5060, 7304.59.6000, 7304.59.8010, 7304.59.8015, 7304.59.8020, 7304.59.8025, 7304.59.8030, 7304.59.8035, 7304.59.8040, 7304.59.8045, 7304.59.8050, 7304.59.8055, 7304.59.8060, 7304.59.8065, and 7304.59.8070.