SALEM - A unfair trade complaint filed by Quaker City Castings Inc. with the United States Department of Commerce and the U.S. International Trade Commission will receive a full investigation, according to the ITC and the company.

Quaker City Castings, located at 310 E. Euclid St., employs 63 people, down from 109, or a drop of 45 percent.

QCC is an iron and steel foundry that specializes in manufacturing EZ-Slider cylinder liners, gray and ductile iron castings, special alloy iron castings, carbon steel castings, heat-resistant steel castings, stainless steel castings and a product called Ni-Resist Piston Inserts that are used in the heavy duty truck industry.

The Ni-resist piston inserts are molded into aluminum diesel pistons by piston manufacturers, and are at the heart of the complaint that was filed on Jan. 26.

The company said it has suffered extensive market share losses since 1997 due to imports of the Ni Resist Piston Inserts from Argentina and South Korea, and believes it has lost its market share due to unfair trade subsidies in those countries.

QCC said the purpose of the petition is to request that any subsidized foreign imports be investigated, and if subsidies are found, a duty or tariff, essentially a tax, is put in place to counter the effects of the foreign subsidiesand combat the influx of foreign merchandise.

Last Wednesday, the ITC said it "determined that there is a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured by reason of imports of Ni-resist piston inserts from Argentina and Korea that are allegedly subsidized."

The ITC said all six commissioners voted in the affirmative.

It added, "As a result of the commission's affirmative determinations, the U.S. Department of Commerce will continue to conduct its countervailing duty investigations on imports of this product from Argentina and Korea, with its preliminary determinations due on or about April 21, 2009."