U.S. Customs and Border Protection is collecting cash deposits for estimated antidumping duties, making it costly for companies found dumping to export into the U.S.
The collections will help prevent foreign competitors from unfairly undercutting U.S. steel manufacturers. That’s according to a joint news release from Senators Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) distributed on Thursday.
It followed a determination from the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) that companies from nine countries are dumping steel-pipe products into the U.S.
Dumping is defined as “foreign companies selling steel products at less than fair market value in U.S. markets,” according to the news release.
Both Schumer and Gillibrand in May joined 55 of their colleagues to urge the DOC to conduct an investigation into possible dumping of certain steel pipes, called oil country tubular goods (OCTG), which “threatened” U.S. manufactures and jobs, the lawmakers said.
The 55 lawmakers shared their concerns with U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker in a May 15 letter that Schumer and Gillibrand provided with their news release.
The nine countries included in DOC’s investigation include India, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam, according to the release.
The case now moves to the International Trade Commission (ITC). If the ITC finds that U.S. manufacturers were materially injured, or are threatened by material injury, the DOC will impose a duty on the dumped goods, the lawmakers said.
The dumping of cheaper steel products from foreign companies into the U.S. market is not only harmful to companies’ bottom lines but also to the jobs that the steel-manufacturing industry supports, Schumer contended in the news release.
“I am proud to announce that the Department of Commerce has taken a major step to protect our steel companies from being unfairly undercut by foreign competitors. Strict enforcement of our trade laws is needed to protect jobs and our local, homegrown businesses and manufacturers from being impacted by unfair foreign practices,” Schumer said
The DOC decision will benefit companies such as Rochester–based Klein Steel Service, Inc., which also operates locations in DeWitt, Albany, and Buffalo; and Nucor Steel Auburn, Inc., which employs more than 300 people Auburn, the lawmakers noted.
Nucor Steel of Auburn is part of the Charlotte, N.C.–based Nucor Corp. (NYSE: NUE).
Keeping the “playing field level” is in the “best interest” of companies and the country to “ensure the security” of domestic steel producers, Todd Zyra, president of Klein Steel Service, said in the release.
“When other countries affect the price of steel, either by flooding the market or purposely artificially lowering the price, it hurts U.S. suppliers who play by all the rules of good business including environmental, safety, insurance, workers comp, transportation, production and so much more. When our domestic producers are weakened financially by foreign competition that does not play by the same rules, it hurts the people who work at companies like Klein Steel, and all of our customers,” said Zyra.
The department’s “favorable” decision in the pipe and tube case indicates the federal government is willing to stand by U.S. industries and workers in their effort to combat illegal-trade practices, Mary Emily Slate, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel Auburn, Inc., said in the same news release.
“Trade law enforcement is critical not only to Nucor’s customers in the pipe and tube industry, but also to our more than 300 teammates at Nucor Steel in Auburn who are battling dumped and subsidized imports of steel rebar from Turkey and Mexico,” said Slate.
While the demand for OCTG steel pipes in the U.S. has grown, the so-called dumping practices have driven down the price of the pipes and oversaturated the market, the senators contended.
Some foreign countries practicing unfair trade have also subsidized their exports in order to strengthen their competitive positions.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com