The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) made a unanimous preliminary determination that corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) produced in five foreign countries is causing injury to AK Steel and the domestic steel industry. The preliminary injury determination means that cases against CORE producers in the five named countries will proceed.

AK Steel of West Chester, Ohio and other domestic steel producers filed petitions with the ITC and the United States Department of Commerce last month, charging that unfairly traded imports of CORE from China, India, Italy, South Korea and Taiwan were causing material injury to the domestic industry. Anti-dumping cases and countervailing duty cases were filed against all five countries.

The cases now move to the Commerce Department for determinations as to whether foreign producers are violating U.S. anti-dumping law by selling their products at less than fair value in the United States, and violating U.S. countervailing duty law covering government subsidies.

“We applaud the ITC’s preliminary ruling that unfairly traded imports of corrosion-resistant steel have caused injury to AK Steel and other domestic steel producers,” said James L. Wainscott, AK Steel’s CEO. “This decision is an important step forward in the process to fight dumped and subsidized CORE imports that have significantly impacted pricing in the U.S. market.”

CORE is sheet or coiled steel product that has been coated or plated with a corrosion-or heat-resistant metal to prevent corrosion and thereby extend the service life of the products made from the steel. CORE is widely used in roofing, siding, hardware, roof and bridge decks, guard rails, and culverts and in the manufacture of cars, trucks, appliances, industrial equipment, and agricultural equipment.

As the cases proceed, the Commerce Department will calculate anti-dumping margins, which are designed to offset the amount by which the product is sold at less than fair value, and subsidy rates, which are designed to offset the amount by which the product benefits from unfair government subsidies.

Estimated countervailing and anti-dumping duties will be collected from importers as of the date of the Commerce Department’s preliminary determinations, expected toward the end of August and in mid-November, respectively. Foreign producers that attempt to make massive shipments into the U.S. market before the preliminary determinations can be hit with retroactive anti-dumping and countervailing duties.