Never say die Importers take a lick’n and the ITA keeps on tick’n

Dec 13, 2009 | 07:00 PM |

The oil country tubular goods (OCTG) trade case against imports from China may be grabbing the headlines, but other trade cases continue to percolate through the system.

And more than 15 years after they were initially filed, such cases continue to impact the landscape of the pipe and tube import market.

Take two recent administrative reviews on standard pipe, one on imports from Mexico, another on those from South Korea. The preliminary determinations in both cases were published last week in the Federal Register.

The Dept. of Commerce's International Trade Administration (ITA) has preliminary determined that certain circular welded non-alloy pipe (aka, standard) from Mexico and South Korea has been sold at less than "normal value" by certain firms. As a result, new anti-dumping duties have been assessed in some cases.

The ITA made a preliminary determination that Ternium Mexico SA de CV and Mueller Comercial de Mexico S de RL have sold product in the United States at less than "normal value" because the two companies "refused to cooperate" with Commerce's administrative review.

"Mueller and Ternium withheld information requested by the Department's original questionnaire, and significantly impeded the administrative review," the department said in the FR entry. Mueller also "failed to cooperate to the best of its ability . . . by withdrawing previously submitted proprietary information from the record," Commerce said.

The result both firms have been slapped with dumping margins to the tune of a whopping 48.33 percent. That's a big jump. Ternium had previously been subjected to duties of 10.38 percent and Mueller 32.62 percent, ITA officials said.....