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AK Steel applauds Commerce Department's preliminary countervailing duties determination

AK Steel, West Chester, Ohio, has announced its approval of the U.S. Department of Commerce's preliminary determinations that imports of corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) from China, India, Italy, and South Korea are benefiting from unfair government subsidies and should be subject to countervailing duties.

As a result, the Commerce Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to begin requiring U.S. importers of CORE from the following countries to deposit estimated countervailing duties at the time of importation as follows:

  • China 235.66 - 26.26 percent
  • India 7.71 - 2.85 percent
  • Italy 38.41 - 0.0 percent
  • South Korea 1.37 - 0.0 percent

With respect to Taiwan, the Commerce Department found that countervailable government subsidies were not in excess of the de minimus level of 1 percent.

"AK Steel is pleased that the Commerce Department has made a preliminary ruling that imports of corrosion-resistant steel are being unfairly subsidized," said James L. Wainscott, chairman, president, and CEO. "These determinations are an important step in ensuring that our foreign competitors play by the rules of fair trade. Action is urgently needed to counteract the significant injury that is being caused by unfairly traded imports."

The next step in the trade action will be the Commerce Department's verification of factual information submitted by the foreign producers and their governments. There will then be an opportunity for parties to submit case and rebuttal briefs to the Commerce Department and to participate in a hearing. Following these events, the Commerce Department will issue its final determinations.