Chinese makers of steel pipes such as Tianjin Pipe Group Corp (天津鋼管集團) will face import duties after the US Department of Commerce ruled in the favor of a complaint by US Steel Corp.
Meanwhile, Argentina said it would extend the anti-dumping investigation period for steel pipe and fluorochloromethane imports from China, according to a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce yesterday.
Importers from China must pay dumping duties of as much as 98.74 percent on pipes used to transport water, natural gas and steam in plumbing and heating systems, the US commerce department said on Monday in a statement. Separate duties to compensate for subsidies those makers receive will be as much as 53.65 percent, the department said.
China, which had a US$227 billion trade surplus with the US last year, has been the subject of more complaints filed over unfair trade than any other nation, according to data compiled by the World Bank.
US Steel, based in Pittsburgh, was joined in a petition seeking duties by the US subsidiary of France’s Vallourec SA, the world’s second-largest maker of steel tubes for oil and gas production, and the United Steelworkers union.
Tianjin Pipe, based in Tianjin, will face a combined dumping and countervailing duty rate of 62.65 percent. Hengyang Valin Steel Tube Co (衡陽華菱鋼管) and related companies will face a combined duty of 135.68 percent. All companies not singled out for a review must pay a dumping rate of 98.74 percent and a countervailing duty of 33.66 percent, the agency said.
“In the face of the still-not-sound world economy, we do not want to see unfair restrictions on foreign exports to the United States,” said Wang Baodong (王寶東), a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington. “Instead we should work together to find how to better expand bilateral cooperation.”
US Steel and domestic products have cleared three of four steps in seeking to impose duties on the pipe. Importers are required to deposit the duties, pending a final decision by the US International Trade Commission on Oct. 25.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to