Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the affirmative preliminary determination in the antidumping duty (AD) investigation of imports of certain tapered roller bearings from the Republic of Korea (Korea).

“The United States values its relationship with Korea, but our trading partners must play by the rules,” said Secretary Ross. “We will continue to review all information related to this case before making our final determination.”

The Commerce Department preliminarily determined that exporters from Korea have sold certain tapered roller bearings in the United States at 21.23 percent to 45.53 percent less than fair value.

As a result of today’s decision, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits from importers of certain tapered roller bearings from Korea based on these preliminary rates./p>

In 2016, imports of certain tapered roller bearings from Korea were valued at an estimated $60.1 million.

The petitioner is The Timken Company (OH).

Enforcement of U.S. trade law is a prime focus of the Trump administration. Through the first year of the Trump Administration, the Department of Commerce initiated 84 AD and CVD cases – a 58 percent increase when compared to the final year of the Obama Administration.

The AD law provides U.S. businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of unfair pricing of imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 422 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.

Commerce is scheduled to announce the final determination in this investigation on or about April 16, 2018, although this deadline may be extended.

If Commerce makes affirmative final determinations of dumping and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) makes an affirmative final injury determination, Commerce will issue an AD order. If Commerce makes a negative final determination of dumping or 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 solely on factual evidence.

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.