*EPF105 07/09/01
USITC Votes to Continue Structural Steel Beam Dumping Case
(Imports from Asia, Europe, Africa affected) (250)

Washington -- The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) has voted to continue a dumping investigation into U.S. imports of structural steel beams from China, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Russia, South Africa, Spain and Taiwan.

In a 6-0 preliminary determination July 9, the commissioners voted that evidence of injury to the U.S. industry sufficed at least to let the case continue. A negative determination would have ended the case in the first phase.

Imposition of antidumping duties requires final affirmative determinations both from the Department of Commerce that dumping occurred and from the USITC that the imports injured or threatened U.S. industry.

A preliminary Commerce determination is expected by October.

Dumping is the import of goods at a price below the home-market or a third-country price or below the cost of production. A dumping margin is the ratio representing by how much the fair-value price exceeds the dumped price.

U.S. imports of structural steel beams from the eight markets in 2000 amounted to $322.5 million, about 14 percent of the U.S. market share.

In another case the commissioners voted 6-0 to continue a dumping investigation into imports of circular welded non-alloy steel pipe from China. They voted against continuing investigations, however, for imports of pipe from Indonesia, Malaysia, Romania and South Africa.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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