Trump administration sets stiff tariffs on Taiwanese steel products in anti-dumping action

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the affirmative final determination in the antidumping duty (AD) investigation of imports of forged steel fittings from Taiwan.

Commerce determined that exporters from Taiwan have sold forged steel fittings in the United States at less than half of fair value.

As a result of the decision, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to continue to collect a 116.7% duty from Taiwanese importers of forged steel fittings.

In 2017, imports of forged steel fittings from Taiwan were valued at an estimated $18.9 million.

The investigation was performed in response to a petition filed last October by Bonney Forge Corporation (Mount Union, PA), and the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial, and Service Workers International Union (Pittsburgh, PA).

This determination is just the most recent in a string of actions resulting from the strict enforcement of U.S. trade law by the Trump Administration. Since the beginning of the current administration, Commerce has initiated 120 new antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigations – this is 216 percent more than the 38 initiations in the first 539 days of the previous administration.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed his intentions to end the unfair trade practices of other nations.

“Either a country which has treated the United States unfairly on Trade negotiates a fair deal, or it gets hit with Tariffs,” he tweeted Tuesday.

Antidumping duty laws provide American businesses and workers with an internationally accepted mechanism to seek relief from the harmful effects of dumping unfairly priced imports into the United States. Commerce currently maintains 451 antidumping and countervailing duty orders which provide relief to American companies and industries impacted by unfair trade.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is scheduled to issue its final determination on or around September 6, 2018. If the ITC makes an affirmative final injury determination, Commerce will issue an AD order on subject merchandise from Taiwan. If the ITC makes a negative final determination of injury, the investigation will be terminated and no order will be issued.