Washington, DC –The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has determined that “a US industry is materially injured or threatened with material injury” by the import of certain oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from six countries.

The ruling on OCTG from India, Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam gives the US Department of Commerce the go-ahead to impose tariffs as high as 118 percent on the affected OCTG imports.

The determination does not impact imports of the product from the Philippines and Thailand.

OCTG imports from Saudi Arabia were dropped from the earlier complaint, which was brought in 2013 by US steel companies after imports of the pipes used in the oil and gas industry surged and foreign manufacturers sought to cash in on booming US shale gas drilling.

Seventeen US companies including United States Steel; Maverick Tube Corporation; Boomerang Tube; Energex Tube; Northwest Pipe Co.; Welded Tube, USA; and Tejas Tubular Products filed the original complaint.

The US used 7 million tons of OCTG, valued at $10.1 billion in 2013, accounting for nearly two-thirds of the US market, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute in Washington, DC.

Leading sources of OCTG last year were Korea, Canada, Argentina, Japan, Mexico, and Germany, the trade group said.

Foreign manufacturers responded to the determination saying countered that they do not supply enough pipe to threaten the US industry, and instead blamed the lower prices on US producers increasing supply.

09/02/2014