U.S. prescribes countervailing duties for Chinese stainless steel imports

The Commerce Department on Tuesday recommended countervailing duties be assessed on imports of stainless steel sheet and strip from China.    The Commerce Department on Tuesday recommended countervailing duties be assessed on imports of stainless steel sheet and strip from China.
   A countervailable subsidy is financial assistance from foreign governments to benefit domestic manufacturers and is limited to those companies based on their export performance or use of domestic goods over imported goods. 
   During its investigation, Commerce calculated a preliminary subsidy rate of 57.3 percent for Shanxi Taigang Stainless Steel Co. Ltd. Mandatory respondents, Ningbo Baoxin Stainless Steel Co., Ltd. and Daming International Import Export Co. Ltd., along with both companies’ affiliates, received a preliminary subsidy rate of 193.12 percent. All other producers/exporters in China have been assigned a preliminary subsidy rate of 57.3 percent.
   Commerce said it will now instruct Customs and Border Protection to require cash deposits based on these preliminary rates.
   The petitioners for this Commerce investigation were AK Steel Corp. of Ohio, Allegheny Ludlum in Pennsylvania, North American Stainless of Kentucky, and Outokumpu Stainless USA in Illinois.
   Commerce is scheduled to announce its final determination for this investigation by Nov. 23, 2016.
   If Commerce makes an “affirmative” final determination, and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) also makes a similar determination that these imports from China unfairly harm U.S. industry, Commerce will issue a countervailing duty order. If either Commerce’s or the ITC’s final determination is negative, no countervailing duty order will be issued. The ITC is scheduled to make its final injury determination about 45 days after Commerce issues its final determination, if affirmative.
   Commerce noted that in 2015 imports of stainless steel sheet and strip from China were valued at $302 million.