Petition Filed for new AD/CV Duties on Steel Flanges
Two domestic manufacturers, Weldbend and Boltex Manufacturing, filed a petition on June 30 with the Commerce Department and International Trade Commission requesting new antidumping duties on finished carbon steel flanges from India, Italy and Spain, and new countervailing duties on finished carbon steel flanges from India. Commerce will now decide whether to begin AD/CVD investigations on these products that could result in the imposition of duties.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
If your job depends on informed compliance, you need International Trade Today. Delivered every business day and available any time online, only International Trade Today helps you stay current on the increasingly complex international trade regulatory environment.
Proposed Scope
The petition proposes the following scope for the investigations:
"The scope of this investigation covers finished carbon steel flanges. Finished carbon steel flanges differ from unfinished carbon steel flanges (also known as carbon steel flange forgings) in that they have undergone further processing after forging, which can include beveling, bore threading, center or step boring, face machining, recoining or resizing, taper boring, machining ends or surfaces other than a gasket face, drilling bolt holes, and/or de-burring or shot blasting. Any one of these post-forging processes suffices to render the forging into a finished carbon steel flange for purposes of these petitions. However, mere heat treatment of a carbon steel flange forging (without any other further processing after forging) does not render the forging into a finished carbon steel flange for purposes of these petitions.
"While these finished carbon steel flanges are generally manufactured to specification ASME 816.5 or ASME B16.47 series A or series B, the scope is not limited to flanges produced under those specifications. All types of finished carbon steel flanges are included in the scope, regardless of pipe size (usually expressed in inches of nominal pipe size), pressure class (usually expressed in pounds of pressure, e.g., 150, 300,400, 600, 900, 1500, 2500, etc.), type of face (e.g., flat face, full face, raised face, etc.), configuration (e.g., weld neck, slip on, socket weld, lap joint, threaded, etc.), wall thickness (usually expressed in inches), and normalization or heat treatment (which may not always be used). The carbon steel used to produce finished carbon steel flanges includes, but is not limited to, carbon steel produced to ASTM 4105 and ASTM 4694 standards.
"Finished carbon steel flanges are currently classified under subheading 7307.91.5010 and 7307.91,5050 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS). They may also be entered under HTSUS subheading 7301.91.5030 and 7301.91.5070. The HTSUS subheadings are provided for convenience and customs purposes; the written description of the scope is dispositive."
Commerce Accepting Comments on Petition Support
The Commerce Department is accepting comments on domestic industry support for the petitions to determine whether the petitions meet the dual requirements of support by domestic producers or workers accounting for (1) at least 25% of the total production of the domestic-like product and (2) more than 50% of the production of the domestic-like product produced by that portion of the industry expressing support for, or opposition to, the petition. If the petitions meet these requirements, among others, Commerce will initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. Comments are due July 20.
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of the petition.