On December 16, 2015, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced its preliminary determinations in the countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of imports of certain cold-rolled steel flat products from Brazil, China, India, and Russia and its negative determination in the CVD investigation of imports from South Korea.

Countervailable subsidies are financial assistance from foreign governments that benefit the production of goods from foreign companies.

In the China investigation, Commerce determined that three Chinese exporters received subsidy rates of 227.29 percent.

Subsidies to companies from the other countries ranged from 4.45 percent, in the case of India, to 7.42 percent, in the case of Brazil.

As a result of the preliminary determinations for Brazil, China, India, and Russia, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to require cash deposits based on these preliminary rates.

Based on an allegation filed in the China CVD case, Commerce found that critical circumstances exist for the three subsidized exporters. That means that CBP will be instructed to impose provisional measures retroactively on entries of certain cold-rolled steel flat products up to 90 days prior to publication of the preliminary determination.

The petitioners for these investigations are AK Steel Corporation, ArcelorMittal USA LLC, Nucor Corporation, Steel Dynamics, Inc., and United States Steel Corporation.

Commerce has aligned the final CVD determinations with the final determinations in the concurrent antidumping duty investigations, and is scheduled to announce its final determinations on or about

May 10, 2016, unless the statutory deadline is extended.

If Commerce makes affirmative final determinations, and the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) makes affirmative final determinations that cold-rolled steel imports injure, or threaten injury to, the domestic industry, Commerce will issue CVD orders. If either Commerce’s or the ITC’s final determinations are negative, no CVD orders will be issued. The ITC is scheduled to make its final injury determinations in May 2016.