US Department of Commerce Grants Final Exemption from Anti-Dumping Duties on Korean Cold-Rolled Steel Sheets

[Asia Economy Reporter Park So-yeon] The U.S. government has made a final ruling to exempt anti-dumping (AD) duties on Korean cold-rolled steel sheets.

According to the industry on the 8th, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the final ruling results of the second annual review of anti-dumping duties on Korean cold-rolled steel sheets in the early hours of the day.

As a result of the ruling, Hyundai Steel and POSCO each received an anti-dumping duty rate of 0.0%.

The investigation period was from September 2017 to August 2018, during which Hyundai Steel's export volume was around 30,000 tons, and POSCO's was around 40,000 tons. These export volumes will be exempt from anti-dumping duties.

Hyundai Steel also received a 0% ruling on cold-rolled countervailing duties (CVD) on the 23rd of last month, resulting in both anti-dumping and countervailing duties being applied at a 0% rate.

During the preliminary ruling, the U.S. government applied the "Special Market Situation (PMS)" to calculate the dumping margin, but the application rate was lowered in the final ruling. Additionally, in the final ruling on countervailing duties, electricity costs were not considered subsidies.

However, in POSCO's case, while the anti-dumping duty was 0%, a countervailing duty of 0.59% was imposed.

A Hyundai Steel official stated, "Both anti-dumping and countervailing duties were applied the same as in the preliminary ruling, and the U.S. Department of Commerce judged that there were no anti-dumping factors."

Accordingly, exports of cold-rolled materials may increase in the future, but there is an analysis that there are limits to increasing export volumes due to the current export quota system under Section 232 of the U.S. Trade Expansion Act.

Cold-rolled steel sheets are produced by pressing hot-rolled steel sheets again at room temperature with precision machinery to make them thinner and to treat the surface smoothly. They are mainly used to manufacture automobiles, home appliances, steel pipes, and more.

The U.S. Department of Commerce also announced the final ruling results of the fourth annual review of anti-dumping duties on oilfield steel pipes used for transporting oil and other fluids.

Hyundai Steel's anti-dumping duty rate, which was 0.77% in last year's preliminary ruling, was lowered to 0.0%, and SeAH Steel's rate, which was 17.04%, was reduced to 3.96%. During the investigation period, Hyundai Steel's export volume of oilfield steel pipes was 190,000 tons, and SeAH Steel's was 250,000 tons.

The investigated companies are Hyundai Steel and SeAH Steel. Since Hyundai Steel has a "de minimis" margin, the remaining companies, Nexteel and Husteel, will be subject to SeAH's anti-dumping rate. If the countervailing duty is below 0.5% in the review, it is considered a de minimis margin, ending anti-dumping duties.

The reason for the lowered duty rates is due to the increase in average selling prices in the U.S. and the reduced application rate of the Special Market Situation (PMS).

An industry official said, "As the duties have decreased, the burden has also lessened, which is expected to help exports. However, the current U.S. market demand is not favorable due to reasons such as COVID-19."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.