A Ruling against U.S. Department of Commerce

Carbon steel pipes for ordinary piping

The United States Court of International Trade (USCIT) put the brakes on the U.S. Commerce Department’s tariffication on South Korean steel products, pointing out that the department’s Particular Market Situation (PMS) provision application to South Korean carbon steel pipes for ordinary piping lacked legal grounds and the tariffs need to be reconsidered or lowered.
 

The USCIT also pointed out the department’s assertion that Hyundai Steel USA and Hyundai USA conducted price fixing lacked evidence and the same tariff rate applied to the U.S. subsidiaries of Hyundai Steel was wrong. Once the ruling of the USCIT is made final, the South Korean companies’ paid tariffs can be refunded.
 

Earlier, the department imposed high tariffs on the carbon steel pipes imported between November 2015 and October 2016, claiming that South Korean companies lowered the prices of their products based on government subsidies such as low industrial electricity prices. At that time, Hyundai Steel, SeAH Steel and Husteel had to face a tariff of 30.85 percent, 19.28 percent and 7.71 percent, respectively.

This is not the first time that the USCIT called such tariffs into question. For example, it told the department in January this year to recalculate tariffs on South Korean oil country tubular goods.

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