On June 17, the US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced its decision to initiate antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations on imports of certain prestressed concrete steel wire strand (PC strand) from China.
This announcement follows the May 27, 2009 filing of said AD and CVD petitions by a group of US PC strand producers including American Spring Wire Corp., Insteel Wire Products Company, and Sumiden Wire Products Corp.
The alleged dumping margin in these investigations ranges from 140.16 to 314.59 percent, and the subsidy rate is above de minimis (de minimis is less than one percent for developed countries or less than two percent for developing countries).
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to make its preliminary injury determination on or about July 13.
The merchandise covered by these investigations, PC strand, is a collection of wire rod bars, typically covered with an epoxy material and is primarily used in concrete construction applications. The material is currently classified in the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States under item numbers: 7312.103010 and 7312.10.2012.
According to the ITC's fact sheet on these investigations, from 2007 to 2008 imports of PC strand from China increased by 7.83 percent by volume, and were valued at an estimated $178 million in 2008, compared to $102 million in 2007.