AK Steel Corporation, ATI Flat Rolled Products, North American Stainless, and Outokumpu Stainless USA, LLC, the four principal US producers of stainless steel sheet and strip, filed antidumping and countervailing duty petitions today charging that unfairly traded imports of stainless steel sheet and strip from China are causing material injury to the domestic industry.
The antidumping margins alleged by the domestic industry range from 53.69 percent to 83.24 percent ad valorem. The domestic industry’s countervailing duty petition alleges that the Chinese government has provided significant subsidies to Chinese producers. The petitions were filed concurrently with the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission.
The domestic industry filed its petitions for relief in response to large and increasing volumes of low-priced imports of stainless steel sheet and strip from China over the past three years that have injured US producers. The volume of imports of stainless steel sheet and strip from China has increased by 133 percent since 2013. Chinese products accounted for 81.2 percent of the total increase in U.S. stainless steel sheet and strip imports during the past three years.
“Surging imports of unfairly low-priced stainless steel sheet and strip from China have devastated pricing in the US market and caused severe injury to the domestic industry,” commented Kathleen W. Cannon, of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, the petitioners’ trade counsel. “The domestic industry looks forward to the opportunity to present its case to the Commerce Department and US International Trade Commission to obtain relief from unfairly traded imports from China and to restore fair competition in the US market.”
As a result of the filing of the petitions, the DOC will determine whether to initiate the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations within 20 days and the US ITC will reach a preliminary determination of material injury or threat of material injury within 45 days. The entire investigative process will take approximately one year, with final determinations of dumping, subsidization, and injury likely occurring in the first quarter of 2017.