Yesterday, the Department of Commerce announced its preliminary determinations in the countervailing duty investigations on carbon and alloy steel wire rod from Turkey and Italy. Commerce reached affirmative determinations in both cases, finding that wire rod producers in those countries benefitted from government subsidies. Specifically, Commerce found an overall subsidy rate of 1.70 percent ad valorem for Italian producer Ferriere Nord S.p.A. and 44.18 percent ad valorem for Italian producer Ferriera Valsider S.p.A. Imports of wire rod from Italy by all other producers and exporters will require a cash deposit at a rate of 1.70 percent ad valorem.
With respect to the countervailing duty investigation on wire rod from Turkey, Commerce calculated an overall subsidy rate of 2.27 percent ad valorem for Turkish producer Habas Sinai ve Tibbi Gazlar Istih (Habas), but a de minimis subsidy rate for Turkish producer Icdas Celik Enerji Tersane ve Ulasim San (Icdas). Wire rod imports from Turkey from all other producers and exporters will require a cash deposit at a rate of 2.27 percent ad valorem.
Commerce will next instruct Customs and Border Protection to begin collecting cash deposits as of the date of publication of Commerce’s determination in the Federal Register. Entries of wire rod going back 90 days prior to the publication of the preliminary determination from all other Turkish exporters, other than Habas and Icdas, will also be subject to a cash deposit requirement due to an affirmative “critical circumstances” finding by Commerce.
Commerce is currently conducting companion antidumping duty investigations on wire rod from Italy and Turkey, as well as from Belarus, Korea, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom. The preliminary antidumping duty determinations on wire rod from Belarus, Russia, and the UAE are expected to be reached on September 5, 2017 and announced the next day.
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP represents Gerdau Ameristeel US Inc., Keystone Consolidated Industries, and Charter Steel, which, in addition to Nucor Corporation, are petitioners in these investigations.