The US Department of Commerce yesterday announced preliminary rulings that certain steel products imported from Vietnam and produced from substrate originating in China are circumventing existing antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders.

The products in question are corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) and cold-rolled steel flat products. The gist of the ruling is that the imports from Vietnam violate existing AD/CVD orders on CORE and cold-rolled steel imported from China.

As a result, Commerce will instruct Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin collecting cash deposits on imports of CORE and cold-rolled steel produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate.

US law provides that Commerce may find circumvention of AD/CVD orders when merchandise that is the same class or kind as merchandise subject to existing orders is completed or assembled in a third country prior to importation into the United States.

CBP will collect AD and CVD cash deposits on imports of CORE produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate at rates of 199.43 percent and 39.05 percent, respectively. CBP will also collect AD and CVD cash deposits on imports of cold-rolled steel produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate at rates of 265.79 percent and 256.44 percent, respectively. These cash deposit rates were previously established in the investigations on cold-rolled steel and CORE from China.

Duties will apply to all shipments entering the United States on or after November 4, 2016, the date the circumvention inquiries were initiated, that remain unliquidated. Importers and exporters of Vietnamese merchandise that is produced from substrate originating in Vietnam or a third-country have the option of seeking an exemption from cash deposits by certifying that the substrate originated outside of China.

Shipments of CORE from Vietnam to the United States increased from two million dollars to $80 million after preliminary duties were imposed on Chinese products in 2015. Likewise, shipments of cold-rolled steel from Vietnam to the United States increased from nine million dollars to $215 million after preliminary duties were imposed on Chinese products in 2015.

These inquiries were conducted pursuant to requests from US domestic producers of CORE and cold-rolled steel: Steel Dynamics, Inc. (IN), California Steel Industries (CA), AK Steel Corporation (OH), ArcelorMittal USA LLC (IN), Nucor Corporation (NC), and United States Steel Corporation (PA).

Commerce is currently scheduled to announce its final determinations in these inquiries on February 16, 2018.