The US Department of Commerce has initiated an antidumping (AD), countervailing (CVD), and circumvention investigation on Chinese stainless steel sheets and strips exported from Vietnam.
In a statement released this week, Commerce indicated it self-initiated the probe on the possibility that Chinese stainless steel rolled products were being exported to the US from Vietnam.
If the circumvention investigations prove that Chinese rolled products were, indeed, being exported by Vietnam, Commerce will instruct the US Custom and Border Protection to begin collecting cash deposits on such imports from Vietnam and suspend liquidation.
In March 2017, Commerce had set final AD duties between 63.8-76.4pc for Chinese stainless steel sheets and strips, and could impose the same duties on Vietnamamese stainless steel sheets if those exports are found guilty of circumvention.
Commerce will also impose duties on future imports and any unliquidated inventory starting May 12—the day the department began the inquiry—on any Vietnamese stainless steel products it determines have circumvented existing AD or CVD orders.
According to Commerce, stainless sheet and strip shipments from Vietnam increased by $122mn in value during a near four-year period before and after the original AD/CVD investigations on Chinese stainless sheets and strips were initiated on March 3, 2016.
This is the seventh self-initiated circumvention inquiry by Commerce, which usually begins such probes upon receiving complaints from domestic manufacturers.