The Rebar Trade Action Coalition (RTAC), a coalition of US rebar producers, filed petitions asking the US Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission to conduct antidumping investigations into imports of rebar from Japan, Taiwan, and Turkey , and a countervailing duty investigation into imports of rebar from Turkey.

The petitions demonstrate that Japanese, Taiwanese, and Turkish rebar producers are dumping their product into the United States at margins ranging from 86.12 percent to 206.17 percent.

The RTAC said “As a result of increasing volumes of dumped and subsidized imports, the US rebar industry is suffering significant harm, including a decline in pricing and profits. Japanese, Taiwanese, and Turkish rebar imports increased 160 percent between 2013 and 2015, and have remained significant in 2016, causing US producers to lose substantial sales to the unfairly priced imports and forcing them to lower prices to prevent additional lost volume. US rebar producers are struggling to maintain operating levels in the face of these imports. These unfairly traded imports have also severely depressed the US industry’s capacity utilization rates.”

The petitioning companies are as follows:

• Bayou Steel Group
• Byer Steel Group, Inc.
• Commercial Metals Company
• Gerdau
• Nucor Corporation
• Steel Dynamics, Inc.

The DOC and ITC should initiate antidumping and countervailing investigations within three weeks of the filing date of the petitions. The ITC’s preliminary injury determination is expected in November 2016; the Department of Commerce should make its preliminary AD and CVD determinations within approximately six months. At that point, importers of Japanese, Taiwanese, and Turkish merchandise will be required to make cash deposits in the amount of the preliminary AD and CVD duties. A final determination is expected in 9 to 13 months.

Speaking on behalf of the producers and exporters of long steel products; IREPAS Chairman Murat Cebecioglu said the dumping margins alleged by the US coalition of rebar producers are ungrounded. Mr. Cebecioglu added  “Free trade is one of the few unambiguously good things and it is based on the idea of comparative advantage. Free trade has allowed more wealth creation than any other economic order. It has benefited America and Europe enormously throughout the history, and still does. Most commodities freely trade around the world and this allows resources to flow to their best use. Countries and companies that have embraced this message have thrived and prospered. Those that tried to close themselves off from this trend have not. Competition increases efficiency and serves customers and the public. Today, as always, there is much support for tariffs labeled as protection. Many countries try to protect themselves from unfairly priced imports. One voice that is hardly ever raised is the consumer’s. Protection means exploiting the consumer unless it is justified that imports have an unfair competitive advantage. IREPAS always supports free and fair trade in steel.”