U.S. Department of Commerce Finds Dumping and Countervailable Subsidization of Imports of Prestressed Concrete Steel Wire Strand from Eight Countries

For Immediate Release
December 8, 2020
Contact: Office of Public Affairs
Phone: 202-482-3809

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced affirmative final determinations in the antidumping duty (AD) investigations of prestressed concrete steel wire strand (PC strand) from Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the countervailing duty (CVD) investigation of PC strand from Turkey.

Commerce determined that exporters from the countries listed below have dumped PC strand in the United States at the following rates:

60.40 percent for Argentina,
86.09 percent for Colombia,
29.72 percent for Egypt,
30.86 percent for the Netherlands,
194.40 percent for Saudi Arabia,
23.89 percent for Taiwan,
53.65 percent for Turkey, and
170.65 percent for the United Arab Emirates.

In addition, Commerce determined that exporters from Turkey received countervailable subsidies at rates ranging from 30.78 percent to 158.44 percent.

The 2019, imports of PC strand from the countries under investigation were approximately valued as follows:

$2.3 million for Argentina;
$9.6 million for Colombia;
$345.9 thousand for Egypt;
$1.6 million for the Netherlands;
$1.4 million for Saudi Arabia;
$3.0 million for Taiwan;
$13.1 million for Turkey; and
$2.3 million for the United Arab Emirates.

The petitioners are Insteel Wire Products Company (Mount Airy, NC), Sumiden Wire Products Corporation (Dickson, TN), and Wire Mesh Corporation (Houston, TX).

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is currently scheduled to make its final injury determinations on or about January 21, 2021. If the ITC makes affirmative final injury determinations, Commerce will issue AD and CVD orders. If the ITC makes negative final determinations of injury, the investigations will be terminated, and no orders will be issued.
Read the fact sheet on today’s decision(s).

Commerce is conducting concurrent AD investigations of PC strand from Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, South Africa, Spain, Tunisia, and Ukraine. The final determinations for these investigations are scheduled to be announced on April 6, 2021.

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 306 new AD and CVD investigations – a 283 percent increase from the comparable period in the previous administration.

The AD and CVD laws provide American 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 539 AD and CVD orders that provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.

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 rules 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 AD duties. Foreign companies that receive unfair subsidies from their governments, such as grants, loans, equity infusions, tax breaks, or production inputs, are subject to CVD duties aimed at directly countering those subsidies.

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