The Commerce Department began on July 22 nine antidumping duty investigations of oil country tubular goods from India, South Korea, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam, and two countervailing duty investigations on oil country tubular goods from India and Turkey, in response to a petition from several domestic manufacturers, it said in a fact sheet. According to the July 2 petition, despite the effectiveness of the duties on OCTG from China, after which the imports “virtually disappeared” from the U.S. market, the industry has for the past several years been buffeted by OCTG from these nine countries (see 13070332). The International Trade Commission is set to make its preliminary injury determination by Aug. 16.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the July 23 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will appear in another ITT article):
ResMed filed another Section 337 complaint on sleep-disordered breathing treatment devices with the International Trade Commission on July 19, alleging imports by BMC Medical of China and its U.S. affiliates 3B Medical and 3B Products, are infringing its patents. The ITC began another Section 337 investigation requested by ResMed in April, that time over allegations against a Taiwan-based company (see 13042914). The products at issue are used in the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea by delivering pressurized air to the user to keep that user’s breathing passages open during sleep, the petition said. ResMed is requesting limited exclusion orders and cease and desist orders against the proposed respondents.
The Commerce Department ruled July 17 that Italian granular polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin made with unfilled PTFE from Russia and China and imported by Industrial Plastics and Machine are not subject to antidumping duties on PTFE from Italy (A-478-703). According to Commerce, the Russian and Chinese raw materials do not undergo a substantial transformation in Italy, and so don’t change their country of origin. As such, they still originate in Russia and China, and aren’t subject to the PTFE from Italy order.
The International Trade Administration issued the preliminary results of its antidumping duty administrative review on cut-to-length carbon steel plate from China (A-570-849). The agency preliminarily found that two of the three companies under review, Baosteel1 and Shanghai Pudong Iron and Steel Co., did not demonstrate independence from state control (and eligibility for a separate rate), so Commerce preliminarily assigned them the China-wide entity rate of 128.59 percent. Commerce also found that the other respondent, Hunan Valin Xiangtan Iron & Steel Co., Ltd. did not have any reviewable shipments to the U.S. If these preliminary results are finalized, subject merchandise from Hunan Valin will continue to enter at AD rates set in previous reviews. These preliminary results are not in effect. Commerce may modify them in the final results of this review and change the estimated AD cash deposit rates for these companies.
The exclusion from antidumping and countervailing duties for egg pastas only applies when the egg makes up 2 percent of the pasta’s weight in dry form, said the Commerce Department in a scope ruling that included Valdigrano’s product under the scope of the AD/CV duty orders on pasta from Italy (A-475-818 / C-475-819).
The Commerce Department issued Federal Register notices on its recently initiated antidumping investigations on steel threaded rod from India and Thailand (A-533-855, A-549-831) and countervailing duty investigation on steel threaded rod from India (C-533-856). The agency will determine whether imports of steel threaded rod from India and Thailand are being, or are likely to be, sold in the U.S. at less than fair value, and whether imports from India are being illegally subsidized. A Commerce Department fact sheet said domestic petitioners alleged AD rates of 17.93 to 119.87 percent and CV rates of above de minimis for Indian exporters, and AD rates of 63.16 to 74.9 percent for Thai exporters (see 13071821).
Several U.S. companies and labor unions filed on July 19 petitions for antidumping duties on ferrosilicon from Russia and Venezuela (A-821-820, A-307-824). Globe Specialty Metals, CC Metals and Alloys, and the United Steel Workers (USW) and United Auto Workers (UAW) alleged dumped imports from the two countries are underselling U.S. product and harming U.S. industry. Ferrosilicon is used primarily as an alloying agent in steel and cast iron production.
The International Trade Commission is publishing notices in the July 22 Federal Register on the following AD/CV injury, Section 337 patent, and other trade proceedings (any notices that warrant a more detailed summary will appear in another ITT article):
The International Trade Commission is asking for comments by Aug. 14 on public interest factors raised by a possible ban on imports of rubber resins that infringe trade secrets held by SI group. An ITC administrative law judge in June recommended either a general exclusion order or limited exclusion orders on infringing imports. SI Group requested the underlying Section 337 investigation in May 2012 (see 12062041).