The US Department of Commerce (DOC)) announced on Tuesday its final determination that two Indian producers, Viraj Profiles Ltd. (Viraj) 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 will 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 affirmed its preliminary finding issued in October 2017 and assigned both Viraj and the Venus Group a final 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, cash deposits of 30.92 percent from US importers of stainless steel bar produced and/or exported by either Viraj or the Venus Group will continue to be required for each entry. This is only the second time in the last nine years that the Department of Commerce has reinstated companies back under an antidumping duty order from which those companies had previously been revoked.
The changed circumstances review was filed on September 29, 2016 on behalf of seven US stainless steel bar producers. The US producers alleged that following Viraj Profile's 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. Under US law, any company that has an order conditionally revoked may be reinstated under an existing order if the Commerce Department finds that the company has resumed dumping following revocation.
The petitioning companies are 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. and are represented by David A. Hartquist, Laurence J. Lasoff, and Grace Kim of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. The legal team was supported by economic consultants, Georgetown Economic Services.