ITC determines injury by structural steel imports

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has determined that US fabricated structural steel makers are being injured by imports from Canada, China and Mexico, furthering an investigation that could lead to additional duties.

The issue is now in the hands of the US Department of Commerce, which will proceed with antidumping and countervailing duty investigations concerning fabricated structural steel imports from the three countries. The Commerce Department's preliminary countervailing duty determinations are due 1 May, while its preliminary antidumping duty determinations are due by 15 July.

The requested duties range from 219pc for Chinese fabricated structural steel goods, 41pc for Canadian products and 31pc for Mexican products. The ITC's report will be available after 18 April.

The ruling today came less than two months after the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) called for tariffs on fabricated structural steel imports from the three countries.

AISC has been investigating the imports since 2015, and the duties are separate from the 25pc Section 232 steel tariff President Donald Trump imposed on steel imports in 2018.

The products that would be covered by the tariffs include structural components like columns, beams and girders, along with other steel products that have been fabricated for assembly or installation into a structure, referred to as fabricated structural steel.

The use of the products are as varied as for commercial, office, and multi-family residential buildings, parking decks, convention centers, medical facilities, and transportation and infrastructure facilities.

Products that would be excluded from the new tariffs, if enacted, would include certain types of rebar, fabricated structural steel used in bridges, and pre-engineered metal building systems.