U.S. sets duties on imports of Chinese, Mexican copper pipe, tube

The U.S. Commerce Department announced Monday that it had made final determination to slap anti-dumping (AD) duties on imported seamless refined copper pipe and tube from China and Mexico.

In this case, Chinese and Mexican producers and exporters will face 11.25 to 60.85 percent, and 24.89 to 31.43 percent of AD duties, respectively.

In the China investigation, Golden Dragon Precise Copper Tube Group, Inc. will receive a final calculated dumping rate of 11.25 percent. Zhejiang Hailiang Co., Ltd., Hong Kong Hailiang Metal Trading Limited and Shanghai Hailiang Copper Co., Ltd. will receive a final calculated dumping rate of 60.85 percent, according to a statement.

Five exporters qualified for a separate dumping rate of 36.05 percent. All other Chinese exporters received the final China-wide dumping rate of 60.85 percent, according to the statement.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) was scheduled to make its final determination in November this year.

"As a result of these final determinations, Commerce will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to collect a cash deposit or bond based on the final rates. If the ITC makes negative determinations, these investigations will be terminated," said the statement.

According to the U.S. government data, imports of seamless refined copper pipe and tube from China and Mexico were valued at about 233 million and 130.3 million U.S. dollars in 2009, respectively.

The latest protectionism moves by the United States would ultimately hurt the U.S.-China trade relations, which are becoming more and more important for the sluggish global recovery, experts warned.

Source: Xinhua