(Washington, D.C., March 14, 2014) – The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) made a unanimous preliminary determination today that foreign producers of carbon and certain alloy steel wire rod (“wire rod”) are causing injury to U.S. producers. The preliminary injury determination means that the case against producers in China will proceed.
ArcelorMittal USA LLC, Charter Steel, Evraz Pueblo, Gerdau Ameristeel US Inc., Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc. and Nucor Corporation (“the Coalition”), filed the petition on January 31, 2014, charging that unfairly traded imports of wire rod from China were causing material injury to the domestic injury. The domestic industry also filed a countervailing duty petition alleging that the Chinese Government provided significant subsidies to Chinese wire rod producers.
As a result of the Commission’s affirmative determinations, the U.S. Department of Commerce will continue to conduct its investigations on imports of these products, with its preliminary countervailing duty determination due on or about April 28, 2014, and its antidumping duty determinations due on or about July 10, 2014.
“This affirmative decision is an important first step in remedying the devastating injury that the flood of unfairly-traded imports of wire rod from China have had on the domestic industry,” commented Paul Rosenthal, of Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, the lead trade counsel to the Coalition petitioners.
Imports from China surged from 144 tons in 2011 to over 600,000 tons in 2013. By 2013, China was the largest source of wire rod imports to the United States, with more than $335 million in imports.
Carbon and certain alloy steel wire rod is a hot-rolled intermediate steel product of approximately round solid cross section, in irregularly wound coils, in diameters less than 19 millimeters. Wire rod is primarily used for subsequent drawing and finishing by wire drawers, and is ultimately used to manufacture a variety of products, including electric welded chain, cold-drawn bars, springs, nails, reinforcing wire mesh, chain link fence and many different types of wires.
ArcelorMittal USA LLC, Charter Steel, Evraz Pueblo, Gerdau Ameristeel US Inc., Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc., are represented in these actions by Paul Rosenthal, Kathleen Cannon and Alan Luberda of the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren LLP. Nucor Corporation is represented by Alan Price and Daniel Pickard of Wiley Rein LLP.