Trade Cases
May 22, 2018
Commerce Applies Duties on Vietnamese Steel Linked to China
Written by Tim Triplett
Marking a win for U.S. steelmakers, the Commerce Department on Monday officially slapped duties on corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) and certain cold rolled steel products imported from Vietnam that were produced from substrate originating in China. Commerce determined that even though the products underwent some processing in Vietnam, they should still be subject to the same antidumping and countervailing duty orders as if they had been exported directly from China.
Domestic steelmakers who filed the case argued China was seeking to circumvent U.S. duties by shipping steel through a third country, in this case Vietnam. Shipments of CORE from Vietnam to the United States increased from $2 million to $80 million after preliminary duties were imposed on Chinese products in 2015. Likewise, shipments of cold-rolled steel from Vietnam to the United States increased from $9 million to $215 million.
