A coalition of US producers of carbon and certain alloy steel wire rod, comprised of Nucor, ArcelorMittal USA, Charter Steel, Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel, Gerdau Ameristeel, and Keystone Consolidated Industries filed an antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) petition charging that unfairly traded imports of wire rod from China are causing material injury to the domestic wire rod industry. The dumping margins alleged by the domestic industry range from 100 to 110 percent.The countervailing duty petition alleges that the Chinese government provides significant subsidies to Chinese wire rod producers.
The petitions, filed concurrently with the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission, are in response to "large and increasing volumes of low-priced imports of wire rod over the past three years that have injured US wire rod producers," according to the petition. In 2012 and 2013, imports of wire rod from China surged into the US market, rising from 144 tons in 2011 to over 614,000 tons in 2013. China is now the largest source of wire rod imports in the US.
As a result of the "unfair competition," the domestic industry alleges that it has suffered declines in production, sales, employment, and has seen it profitability diminish. The petition states that Chinese producers covered have massive capacity to produce wire rod and pose a continuing threat to the health of the US industry. If the cases are successful, import duties will be imposed, offsetting the unfair trade practices that have allowed the imports from China to injure the domestic industry.
The US Department of Commerce will determine whether to initiate AD/CVD investigations within 20 days, and the 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 likely occurring in early 2015.