US trade body finalises duties on certain steel pipe from China, India; move to protect local producers

Washington: The US International Trade Commission on Thursday said it had determined that American producers were being harmed by imports of certain large-diameter welded steel pipe from China and India, a finding that locks in duties on those products for five years. Last month, the commerce department said the imports were being unfairly subsidised and dumped in the US market, and it announced duties to protect domestic producers. The ITC’s final determination that US producers are being harmed ensure those duties will remain in place. The US trade probe, which covered welded carbon and alloy line and structural steel pipes with a diameter larger than 16 inches, began after a petition from a group of privately held US producers. In 2017, large-diameter welded pipe imported from China and India were valued at an estimated $29.2 million and $294.7 million, respectively. The ITC, in its statement, said it did not find that imports of stainless steel pipes from China and India created the same harm.