U.S. drops dumping cases on pipes from Mexico, Turkey

U.S. drops dumping cases on pipes from Mexico, Turkey    The U.S. International Trade Commission ended dumping cases against pipe and tube imports from Mexico and Turkey, saying they did not injure American manufacturers of similar products.
   As a result of the negative determinations, no additional duties will be assessed on light-walled rectangular pipe and tube products from Mexico and Turkey.
   Imposition of antidumping duties requires final affirmative determinations by both the ITC and Commerce Department that dumping occurred and from the ITC that the imports injured or threatened U.S. industry.
   In September, the Commerce Department ruled that imports from the two countries were dumped on the U.S. market and calculated dumping margins of up to 17.5 percent for the products from Mexico and to 35 percent for those from Turkey.
   In a separate action, the department issued Monday a preliminary affirmative determination in dumping cases involving magnesium metal from China and Russia. It calculated dumping margins ranging to 177.6 percent for the imports from China and to 21.5 percent on those from Russia. The department is expected to make a final determination in February 2005 and ITC to issue its final ruling in April 2005.
   U.S. magnesium metal imports from China in 2003 amounted to $21 million and from Russia to $37.5 million.
   The department also said Tuesday it has initiated a dumping investigation on imports of polyvinyl alcohol from Taiwan. A preliminary ITC determination is expected in October.
   The U.S. government defines dumping as the import of goods at a price below the domestic or a third-country price or below the cost of production. A dumping margin represents by how much the fair-value price exceeds the dumped price.