U.S. finds steel imports from Vietnam circumventing duties

As a result of the affirmative preliminary determination, Commerce has instructed U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin collecting cash deposits on imports of both CORE and cold-rolled steel produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate.    The Commerce Department has preliminary determined that corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) and certain cold-rolled steel products imported into the United States from Vietnam are produced from substrate originating in China in order to circumvent existing antidumping and countervailing duties against these products from China.
   In response, Commerce has instructed Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin collecting cash deposits on imports of both CORE and cold-rolled steel produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate.
   U.S. law provides that Commerce may find circumvention of antidumping and countervailing orders when merchandise that is the same class or kind subject to existing orders is completed or assembled in a third country prior to importing to the United States.
   CBP will collect antidumping and countervailing duty cash deposits on imports of Vietnamese-produced CORE using Chinese-origin substrate at rates of 199.43 percent and 39.05 percent, respectively. The agency will also collect antidumping and countervailing duty cash deposits on imports of cold-rolled steel produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate at rates of 265.79 percent and 256.44 percent, respectively. Duties will apply to all shipments entering the United States on or after Nov. 4, 2016, the date the circumvention inquiries were initiated, that remain unliquidated.
   “Importers and exporters of Vietnamese merchandise that is produced from substrate originating in Vietnam or a third-country have the option of seeking an exemption from cash deposits by certifying that the substrate originated outside of China,” Commerce said.
   According to Commerce, CORE shipments from Vietnam to the United States jumped from $2 million to $80 million after preliminary duties were imposed on these Chinese products in 2015. Cold-rolled steel shipments from Vietnam to the United States similarly rose from $9 million to $215 million after preliminary duties were imposed on these same products from China in 2015.
   These circumventions were brought to the attention of Commerce by U.S. steel producers Steel Dynamics and ArcelorMittal USA, both of Indiana; California Steel Industries; AK Steel Corp. in Ohio; Nucor Corp. of North Carolina; and U.S. Steel Corp. in Pennsylvania.
   Commerce is currently scheduled to announce its final determinations in these inquiries on Feb. 16, 2018.