The U.S. Panel OKs Duties on Another China Steel Product

A U.S. trade panel gave final approval on June 10 to combined duties of more than 200 percent on a steel wire product from China, as trade tensions between the two countries began heating up again.

The U.S. International Trade Commission voted 6-0 to allow the U.S. Commerce Department to impose final anti-dumping and countervailing duties on the imports, which climbed to $178 million in 2008 before falling to $13 million last year.

The trade panel said there was ample evidence that U.S. producers have been materially injured by imports of concrete steel wire strand subsidized by the Chinese government and sold in the United States at less than fair value.

The vote came the same day that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was pressed by members of the Senate Finance Committee to get tougher with China on issues ranging from currency manipulation to copyright piracy.

"At what point will we take stronger action?," asked Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, who accused the Chinese government of "slow dancing" the U.S. government and never delivering on promised reforms.

The ITC decision was a victory for U.S. companies American Spring Wire Corp, Insteel Wire Products Company, and Sumiden Wire Products Corp, which filed a petition last year against for protection against unfair Chinese competition.
The steel wire strand is primarily used in concrete construction applications.

The U.S. steel companies have brought a number of cases against China in recent years, covering a variety of steel products.

Just this month, the Commerce Department has set preliminary duties on steel drill pipe from China and final duties on steel wire decking used in industrial rack systems and steel grating used in industrial floors and docks.

Meanwhile, two U.S. senators -- Charles Schumer of New York and Sherrod Brown of Ohio -- urged Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to quickly make a decision to investigate charges that China is subsidizing exports by undervaluing its currency.

The U.S. coated paper producers have raised that issue in case against China they filed last year.

The Commerce Department has refused to investigate the currency charge in previous countervailing duty cases. But it has said in the coated paper case it would reexamine whether there were legal grounds to launch such a probe.

In their letter released on June 10, Schumer and Brown said they were frustrated that it has already taken the Commerce Department three months to decide the issue.

"The time for delay is over. We owe it to our paper companies and their workers to use the tools at our disposal to ensure that trade is conducted on a fair basis, free of dumping and huge government subsidies," the senators said.