Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the affirmative final determination in the antidumping duty (AD) investigation of imports of forged steel fittings from Taiwan.

Commerce determined that exporters from Taiwan have sold forged steel fittings in the United States at 116.17 percent less than fair value.

As a result of the decision, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to continue to collect cash deposits from importers of forged steel fittings from Taiwan based on these final rates.    

In 2017, imports of forged steel fittings from Taiwan were valued at an estimated $18.9 million.

The petitioners are Bonney Forge Corporation (Mount Union, PA), and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial, and Service Workers International Union (Pittsburgh, PA).

The strict enforcement of U.S. trade law is a primary focus of the Trump Administration.  Since the beginning of the current Administration, Commerce has initiated 120 new AD and CVD investigations – this is 216 percent more than the 38 initiations in the first 539 days of the previous administration. 

Antidumping duty laws provide American businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of dumping unfairly priced imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 451 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to issue its final determination on or around September 6, 2018.  If the ITC makes an affirmative final injury determination, Commerce will issue an AD order on subject merchandise from Taiwan.  If the ITC makes a negative final determination of injury, the investigation will be terminated and no order will be issued.

Click HERE for a fact sheet on today’s decision.

The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for vigorously enforcing U.S. trade laws and does so through an impartial, transparent process that abides by international law and is based on factual evidence provided on the record.

Foreign companies that price their products in the U.S. market below the cost of production or below prices in their home markets are subject to antidumping duties.