The United States International Trade Commission has voted unanimously that the U.S. steel industry has been materially injured or threatened with injury by imports of certain oil country tubular goods from China.
As a result of the vote, the U.S. Department of Commerce will issue a countervailing duty order on imports of these products from China.
The companies that petitioned for the USITC to address the issue are Maverick Tube Corp.; United States Steel Corp.; V&M Star LP; V&M Tubular Corp. of America; IPSCO; Evraz Rocky Mountain Steel; Wheatland Tube Corp.; the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union; and the AFL-CIO-CLC.
The investigation by the USITC began April 8, 2009.
In a statement, the American Iron and Steel Institute applauded the decision. “AISI strongly commends the U.S. International Trade Commission’s unanimous ruling today in favor of U.S. steelmakers, who have been clearly injured by high levels of unfairly traded oil country tubular goods (steel pipe used primarily in the oil and gas industries) into the U.S. market, beginning in 2006 and continuing through the first half of 2009.
"This affirmative ITC final injury decision in the subsidy part of the OCTG case is an important step toward allowing our competitive domestic OCTG producers to compete on a level playing field unhindered by unfair and injurious Chinese trade practices,” said Thomas Gibson, president and CEO of AISI.