The US Department of Commerce (DOC) announced its preliminary determination that two Indian producers, Viraj Profiles Ltd. and Venus Wire Industries Pvt. Ltd., including its affiliates Hindustan Inox Ltd., Precision Metals and Sieves Manufacturers (India) Pvt. Ltd. (collectively, the Venus Group) have resumed dumping stainless steel bar into the US market and that both companies should be reinstated back under the existing antidumping duty order on stainless steel bar from India, which has been in effect since February 21, 1995.
The DOC has assigned both Viraj and the Venus Group a preliminary dumping margin of 30.92 percent, as total adverse facts available. This is the same rate that is currently applicable to Indian stainless bar producers Mukand and Chandan. As a result, the agency will instruct US Customs and Border Protection to require cash deposits of 30.92 percent from US importers of stainless steel bar produced and/or exported by either Viraj or the Venus Group.
The changed circumstances review was filed on September 29, 2016 on behalf of seven US stainless steel bar producers, who alleged that following Viraj Profiles revocation from the order in 2004 and the Venus Group's revocation from the order in 2011, those companies have resumed dumping their stainless steel bar into the United States.
Petitioning companies include Carpenter Technology Corporation; Crucible Industries LLC; Electralloy, a Division of G.O. Carlson, Inc.; North American Stainless; Outokumpu Stainless Bar, Inc; Universal Stainless & Alloy Products, Inc.; and Valbruna Slater Stainless, Inc.