The U.S. International Trade Commission will continue the investigation into imports of hot rolled steel products from seven countries.

The commission determined that there is a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured by reason of imports of certain hot-rolled steel products from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom that are allegedly sold in the United States at less than fair value. The commission made the same determination with regard to the allegation of government subsidies by Brazil, Korea, and Turkey.

Hot-rolled steel is flat-rolled steel sheet that is primarily used in appliances, automotive products, heavy machinery, machine parts, nonresidential construction and transportation equipment. A substantial portion of hot-rolled steel produced in the United States is also used for processing into cold-rolled and/or galvanized or plated steel products, cut-to-length plate, or welded pipe.

As a result of the commission’s determinations, the U.S. Department of Commerce will continue to conduct its investigations.

“We are pleased that the ITC has made a preliminary ruling against dumped and subsidized imports of hot-rolled steel,” said James L. Wainscott, chairman and president and CEO of AK Steel. “This ruling is an important step in the process to fight unfairly traded imports of hot-rolled steel.”

AK Steel who was among the steel manufacturers in the original complaint to the ITC and Department of Commerce.

AK Steel and other domestic steel producers filed petitions with the ITC and the United States Department of Commerce on August 11, 2015, charging that unfairly traded imports of hot-rolled steel from Australia, Brazil, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, Turkey, and the United Kingdom were causing material injury to the domestic industry. Anti-dumping cases were filed against all seven countries. Countervailing duty cases were filed against Brazil, South Korea, and Turkey. 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. law by selling merchandise that benefits from unfair government subsidies.

The Commerce Department will calculate 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.

Preliminary countervailing duty determinations are expected in early November and preliminary antidumping duty determinations in mid-January 2016.