US imposes tariffs on structural steel from China and Mexico
The US Department of Commerce said Wednesday that it imposed tariffs on Chinese and Mexican structural steel after preliminary determination that producers in both countries violated local anti-dumping laws.
Man looking at a port with containers. / Via REUTERS
Reuters | Eric Beech y David Lawder
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As a result, the Commerce Department said, it applied tariffs of up to 141% to Chinese manufactured structural steel and up to 31% on Mexican. The entity added that Canada did not violate the anti-dumping laws on steel.
The US government also said it found that imports of structural steel manufactured in Canada did not violate US anti-dumping laws.
Most Chinese steel products have been excluded from the US market by previous anti-dumping rules of the Department of Commerce and by the 25% tariff imposed by President Donald Trump.
The Commerce Department found that a Chinese producer, Modern Heavy Industries (Taicang) Co Ltd, did not sell low cost products in the United States, but imposed 52% dumping rates on Wison (Nanton) Heavy Industry Co Ltd and up to 141 % to other Chinese manufacturers.
Later, the Mexican government said in a statement that the ongoing investigation – which is expected to end in January 2020 – is not related to another of the Department of Commerce on steel and aluminum under Section 232, which refers to national security.
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"The Mexican government, through the Ministry of Economy, will continue to support Mexican companies involved in the anti-dumping proceeding, and actively participate in the anti-subsidy proceeding," said the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Manufactured structural steel is used in large construction projects, such as bridges, buildings, parking lots and ports.
In 2018, U.S. imports of manufactured structural steel were valued at $ 722.5 million from Canada, 897.5 million from China and 622.4 million from Mexico, the Commerce Department said.
