UNITED STATES September 26 2016 3:20 PM
NEW YORK (Scrap Register): The steel mills, ArcelorMittal USA, Nucor, AK Steel and US Steel petitioned the US Department of Commerce to launch an inquiry into Chinese sheet steel that's being processed into cold-rolled coil and galvanized sheet in Vietnam, Platts reported.
The decision reagarding whether to start the investigation will be decided within 45 days of receiving petition. The mills have asked the Commerce to issue a preliminary circumvention finding, suspend liquidations of entries, and require cash deposits on imports of CRC and galvanized sheet from Vietnam.
Circumvention inquiries are completed in 300 days of initiation under normal circumstances, according to the regulation. In a circumvention inquiry, Commerce will be tasked with determining whether the completion of CRC and galvanized sheet in Vietnam is "minor or insignificant."
Finishing CRC or galvanized sheet in Vietnam involves "one or two steps," depending on the substrate used, the mills argued. "Although the unrolled coil will go through different steps including cleaning, annealing, and coating, this entire process takes place on the same line and adds a much smaller percentage of the final product's value.