Mexico Slaps Anti-dumping Duties on China Steel

The Mexican government said on May 25 it would impose provisional anti-dumping tariffs on steel tubes from China, which it said were competing unfairly in the Mexican market.

The economy ministry found in an investigation that Chinese seamless steel tubes, often used for oil and gas pipelines, were entering the country at below-market prices, hurting the national industry.

An anti-dumping duty will be applied on steel tube imports that cost less than $1,561 per tonne, calculated as "the difference between the export price and the reference price," the government said in a statement.

But the tariffs, which go into effect on May 26, 2010, should not pass 36 percent.

The government started its investigation after Tamsa, the Mexican arm of steel company Tenaris, lodged a complaint. Tenaris, which makes steel pipe for the oil and gas industry, is controlled by Argentine conglomerate Techint and listed on exchanges in Buenos Aires, Milan and New York.

The probe is still going on with no completion date set. At the end of the process Mexico could revise its decision.