U.S. ITC makes preliminary ruling against unfairly traded CORE imports

AK Steel, West Chester, Ohio, has announced that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has made a unanimous preliminary determination that corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) produced in five foreign countries is causing injury to AK Steel and the domestic steel industry. The preliminary injury determination means that cases against CORE producers in the five named countries will proceed.

AK Steel and certain other domestic steel producers filed petitions with the ITC and the United States Department of Commerce (Commerce Department) on June 3, 2015, charging that unfairly traded imports of CORE from China, India, Italy, South Korea, and Taiwan were causing material injury to the domestic industry. Anti-dumping cases and countervailing duty cases were filed against all five countries.

The cases now move to the Commerce Department for determinations as to whether foreign producers are violating U.S. antidumping law by selling their products at less than fair value in the U.S. and violating U.S. countervailing duty law covering government subsidies. Estimated countervailing and antidumping duties will be collected from importers as of the date of the Commerce Department's preliminary determinations, which will occur on or about Aug. 27 and Nov. 10, 2015, respectively. If foreign producers make massive shipments into the U.S. market before the Commerce Department's preliminary determinations, antidumping and countervailing duties can be imposed retroactively beginning 90 days before the preliminary determinations.

CORE is sheet or coiled steel product that has been coated or plated with a corrosion- or heat-resistant metal. Steel coated with zinc, aluminum, or zinc-aluminum alloy comprises most of the product at issue.