The US Department of Commerce on Wednesday dramatically raised an anti-dumping duty on carbon and alloy steel plates from Taiwan’s China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) from 6.95 percent to 75.42 percent in an amended final decision that affects imports from eight countries, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The ruling came one day after the US International Trade Commission initiated an investigation into imports of solar cells and modules, including products from Taiwan, the ministry’s Bureau of Foreign Trade said.
“We think the amended anti-dumping duty indicates a move toward trade protectionism by the US government,” a bureau official, who declined to be named, said by telephone.
The department on April 28 last year began an anti-dumping investigation on imports of carbon and steel alloy cut-to-length plates from eight countries — Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium and Austria.
On March 30 this year, it announced its final ruling on the eight countries, with Taiwan facing anti-dumping duties ranging from 3.62 percent to 6.95 percent, the ministry said.
The ruling imposed a 6.95 percent anti-dumping levy on CSC and a tariff of 3.62 percent on Shang Chen Steel Co Ltd (尚承鋼鐵).
However, the department adjusted its final ruling after the US International Trade Commission on May 5 determined that the dumping of carbon and alloy cut-to-length plates had injured US industry, the bureau official said.
Duties on steel producers from France, Germany and South Korea were mildly amended by the department, but the rates on Taiwan, specifically on CSC, were significantly hiked, the official said.
The official said that the department might have changed the rates for CSC mainly because it used the wrong cost data to set the previous rates.
Even so, the official said it is rare that the department would amend its final ruling less than two weeks after the trade commission’s decision.
“It is also uncommon that the scale of the hike would be 10 times higher than the previous decision,” he said.
The official said CSC can file an administrative appeal in the US against the department’s ruling.
The tariff on Shang Chen remains 3.62 percent in the amended final ruling, the official added.
The ministry’s data showed that Taiwan’s total exports of carbon and alloy cut-to-length plates to the US amounted to 24,665 tonnes and was worth US$13.42 million last year.
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