The U.S Senators Want Anti-dumping Orders to Stand on Imported Rebar

The U.S. Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) are supporting a decision to maintain existing anti-dumping orders against unfairly subsidized imports of steel concrete rebar that harm American manufacturers.

Cochran and Wicker in April signed a letter encouraging the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) to extend the anti-dumping duties now imposed on rebar produced in China, Indonesia, Ukraine, Latvia, Belarus, Moldova and Poland.

The USITC completed its review of the anti-duty case and determined "the existing orders on the rebar under review will remain in place." The announcement followed a mandatory review to determine whether revoking anti-dumping or countervailing duties would likely lead to material injury to domestic producers.

"The decision to keep the anti-dumping duties on imported rebar in place is great news for the steel industry in the United States," Cochran said. "I am hopeful that the overall health of this industry, and the jobs it supports, will benefit from a level playing field with international competition."

Cochran and Wicker were among a dozen senators who argued that extending the duties would be critical to protecting American-made rebar imports that are illegally undercutting the U.S. market. The letter they signed in April pointed out that a November 2012 review by the U.S. Department of Commerce found that if the anti-dumping orders were not maintained, producers in these seven countries would resume dumping rebar into the United States at margins ranging from 16.99 percent to 232.86 percent.