WASHINGTON, July 17, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- U.S. producers
of steel propane cylinders hailed today's final determination of
the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that imports of steel
propane cylinders from China and
Thailand are causing injury to the
domestic industry. The Commission vote was unanimous, with four
members of the ITC voting in the affirmative and one member
recused.
This was the final step in the antidumping and countervailing
duty investigations filed by Worthington Industries, Inc. and
Manchester Tank and Equipment on May
22, 2018. The ITC's decision follows the June 17, 2019 determination by the U.S.
Department of Commerce ("Commerce") that imports of steel propane
cylinders from China and
Thailand were dumped and that
imports from China were also
subsidized.
Imports from China and
Thailand surged into the U.S.
market in recent years, displacing U.S. producers' sales and market
share. The domestic industry stated that this import surge
was driven by low import pricing that caused U.S. producers to
suffer from reduced prices and profits.
Paul Rosenthal, counsel to the
U.S. producers, applauded the ITC's decision, saying, "This
determination will lay the foundation for restoring fair pricing to
the marketplace."
As a result of the ITC's vote, the Commerce Department will
instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to require U.S.
importers of steel propane cylinders from China and Thailand to deposit estimated antidumping
duties at the time of importation as follows:
|
Country
|
Dumping and
Subsidy Margins
|
|
China
|
37-217 percent
(combined)
|
|
Thailand
|
10.77
percent
|
If the foreign producers continue to dump, these duties could
increase in subsequent years. In the meantime, the two
domestic producers announced their intention to appeal the Commerce
Department's antidumping duty determination for Thailand with the U.S. Court of International
Trade in New York, NY. The
U.S. producers contend that the Commerce Department made errors
that resulted in a significantly understated margin of dumping by
Thai producer Sahamitr Pressure Container Public Company
Limited.
Mr. Rosenthal added, "The Commerce Department made several
errors in its analysis of the final dumping margin for
Sahamitr. We intend to appeal Commerce's final determination.
We are confident that a court order for Commerce to reevaluate its
analysis will result in a significantly higher antidumping duty
deposit rate on imports of steel propane cylinders from
Thailand."
Domestic Producers: The steel propane cylinders
subject to the investigation are used in recreational vehicles,
outdoor barbecue grills, fire pits and heat lamps. The
domestic producers that petitioned for antidumping and
countervailing duty relief from imports of steel propane cylinders
from China, and antidumping relief
from Thailand, are Worthington
Industries, Inc. of Columbus, Ohio
and Manchester Tank and Equipment of Franklin, Tennessee. The companies are
represented by Kelley Drye &
Warren LLP, Washington, D.C.
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/producers-of-steel-propane-tanks-applaud-international-trade-commission-injury-decision-will-appeal-commerce-department-final-antidumping-duty-determination-for-thailand-300886708.html
SOURCE Kelley Drye