Today, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross announced the initiation of new antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations to determine whether imports of stainless steel flanges from China and India are being dumped in the United States, and whether producers in China and India are receiving alleged unfair subsidies.
“The Department will act swiftly, while assuring a full and fair assessment of the facts, to ensure that everyone trades on a level playing field,” said Secretary Ross. “The Trump administration will defend American workers and businesses with every tool at our disposal.”

These AD and CVD investigations were initiated based on petitions filed by the Coalition of American Flange Producers and its individual members: Core Pipe Products, Inc. (Carol Stream, Ill.) and Maass Flange Corporation (Houston, Texas) on August 16. The estimated dumping margins alleged by the petitioners range from 99.23 to 257.11 percent and 78.49 percent to 145.25 percent for China and India, respectively. The unfair subsidies alleged by the petitioners are estimated to be above de minimis.

In the AD investigation, the Commerce Department will determine whether imports of stainless steel flanges from China and India are being dumped in the U.S. market at less than fair value.

In the CVD investigations, the Commerce Department will determine whether Chinese and Indian producers of stainless steel flanges are receiving unfair government subsidies.

If the Commerce Department determines that stainless steel flanges from China and India are being dumped into the U.S. market and/or receiving unfair government subsidies, and if the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) determines that dumped and/or unfairly subsidized U.S. imports of stainless steel flanges from China and India are causing injury to the U.S. industry, the Commerce Department will impose duties on those imports in the amount of dumping and/or unfair subsidization found to exist.

In 2016, imports of stainless steel flanges from China and India were valued at an estimated $16.3 million and $32.1 million, respectively.