The U.S. International Trade Commission today unanimously voted to keep the 2008 antidumping duty order on steel nails from China, in place for at least five more years, concluding the “sunset” review started earlier this year. The ITC’s notice of the vote can be found here. A detailed decision will be issued in the near future.
By law, the ITC and U.S. Department of Commerce evaluate antidumping duty orders every five years to decide if they should stay in place or be revoked. In November, Commerce issued its decision that the China order should remain in place. Commerce specifically found that if the order were revoked, 65 Chinese companies would likely resume dumping at the rate of 21.24% and that companies not established as independent from the Chinese government would do so at the rate of 118.04%. In fact, administrative reviews since the order was first imposed indicate that the actual levels of dumping would be substantially higher. Commerce’s final determination can be found here.Mid Continent Nail Corporation, the largest producer of steel nails in the United States, was the lead petitioner for the antidumping duty order in 2007, and was the only participant in the sunset review. The ITC and Commerce relied on information from Mid Continent in their sunset review determinations.
As a result of the favorable determinations by both Commerce and the ITC, the antidumping duty order on Chinese steel nails will stay in place at least through the next sunset review in 2018. During this period, Commerce will continue conducting administrative reviews to determine the actual amount of dumping by Chinese exporters. Other types of proceedings, such as anticircumvention inquiries and duty evasion probes, also are possible if unlawful activities are observed.