U.S. levies hefty duties on Chinese corrosion-resistant steel

[May 26, 2016]  By David Lawder

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Corrosion-resistant steel from China will face final U.S. anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties of up to 450 percent under the U.S. Commerce Department's latest clampdown on a glut of steel imports, the agency said on Wednesday.

The department also issued anti-dumping duties of 3 percent to 92 percent on producers of corrosion-resistant steel in Italy, India, South Korea and Taiwan, it said in a statement.

The department hit producers of the flat-rolled steel, which is coated or plated with zinc, aluminum or other metals to extend its service life, with anti-subsidy duties in China, South Korea, Italy and India. Taiwan was exempted.

The final U.S. anti-dumping duties on the Chinese products replace preliminary ones of 256 percent issued in December 2015.

China's Commerce Ministry said it was extremely dissatisfied at what it called the "irrational" move by the United States, which it said would harm cooperation between the two countries.

"China will take all necessary steps to strive for fair treatment and to protect the companies' rights," it said, without elaborating.

Last week the U.S. Commerce Department slapped punitive tariffs of more than 500 percent on Chinese cold-rolled flat steel, which is widely used for car body panels and appliances.

China has come under increasing fire from industrialized countries worldwide that have accused it of dumping steel at prices far below production costs to avoid cutting excess capacity in the sector, which faces slowing demand at home.

Beijing has insisted that it would eliminate 100 million to 150 million tons of annual capacity and said last week it would persist with a steel tax rebate plan to support the sector's restructuring.

The escalating steel trade fight has grown into a major irritant as senior U.S. and Chinese officials prepare for bilateral economic and foreign policy meetings in Beijing in early June.

The Commerce Department issued anti-dumping duties of 210 percent on all Chinese-produced corrosion resistant steel. Final anti-subsidy duties ranged from 39 percent for many producers to 241 percent for some of the largest ones including Baosteel, Hebei Iron & Steel Group and Angang Group.

Anti-dumping duties for Indian producers were far lower at 3 percent to 4.4 percent, while their anti-subsidy duties ranged from 8 percent to 29.5 percent for JSW Steel Ltd.

Italian producer Marcegalia SpA was hit with anti-dumping duties of 92.1 percent, while other Italian steelmakers faced 12.63 percent. Anti-subsidy duties on Italian steelmakers ranged from 0.5 percent to 38.5 percent on Ilva SpA.

In 2015, U.S. imports of corrosion-resistant steel products from the five countries totaled $1.87 billion, the Commerce Department said. About $500 million of that came from China.

The original anti-dumping and anti-subsidy complaint was brought by major U.S. steelmakers.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in BEIJING; Editing by Leslie Adler and Richard Chang)

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