The Department of Commerce yesterday announced the initiation of anti-dumping and countervailing duty investigations of imports of circular welded, carbon-quality,
steel pipe from Pakistan and anti-dumping investigations of imports of the same merchandise from Oman, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam.
The investigations cover welded, carbon-quality steel pipe and tube, of circular cross-section, with an outside diameter not more than 16 inches, regardless of wall thickness, surface finish, end finish, or industry specification.
The products are generally known as standard pipe, fence pipe and tube, sprinkler pipe, and structural pipe and are intended for the low-pressure conveyance of water, steam, natural gas, air and other liquids and gases in plumbing and heating systems, air conditioning units, and automatic sprinkler systems. The products may also be used for light load-bearing and mechanical applications, such as for fence tubing.
Anti-Dumping vs. Countervailing Duties
For the purpose of anti-dumping investigations, dumping occurs when a foreign company sells a product in the US at less than its fair value. For the purpose of countervailing duty investigations, countervailable subsidies are financial assistance from foreign governments that benefit the production of goods from foreign companies and are limited to specific enterprises or industries, or are contingent either upon export performance or upon the use of domestic goods over imported goods.
The petitioners for these investigations are Bull Moose Tube Company of Chesterfield, Mo.; EXLTUBE of N. Kansas City, Mo.; Wheatland Tube of Chicago; and Western Tube & Conduit of Long Beach, Calif. Many of the countries being investigated have also been accused of shipping Chinese goods from their ports to the US so as to conceal the origin of the shipments.
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to make its preliminary injury determinations on or before December 14, 2015. If the ITC determines that there is a reasonable indication that imports of the pipe from Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, and/or Vietnam materially injure — or threaten material injury to, the domestic industry — the investigations will continue and Commerce will be scheduled to make its preliminary countervailing duty determinations in January 2016 and its preliminary anti-dumping determinations in April 2016, unless the statutory deadlines are extended.
