After a required five-year review, existing antidumping duty orders on carbon and alloy seamless standard, line, and pressure pipe (CASSLP) from Japan and Romania were kept in place after a vote Tuesday by the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC).

According to the Uruguay Round Agreements Act, the Department of Commerce must revoke an antidumping or countervailing duty order, or terminate a suspension agreement, after five years unless the Department of Commerce and the USITC determine that “revoking the order or terminating the suspension agreement would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping or subsidies and of material injury USITC within a reasonably foreseeable time.”

According to a USITC release, Chairman Rhonda K. Schmidtlein, Vice Chairman David S. Johanson, and Commissioner Irving A. Williamson voted in the affirmative. Commissioner Meredith M. Broadbent voted in the affirmative with respect to Japan and in the negative with respect to Romania.

The five-year sunset reviews in the case — Carbon and Alloy Seamless Standard, Line, and Pressure Pipe from Japan and Romania — were instituted Sept. 1, 2016.

The determination came on a third review of the orders. The second review of the orders led to a continuation of them as of Oct. 11, 2o11, for both Japanese and Romanian imports of the products.

According to the USITC’s posted notice explaining its determination to conduct full reviews for CASSLP imports from each country, it noted that it received a joint response filed on behalf of Vallourec Star, LP and U.S. Steel, domestic producers of CASSLP.

“Because these producers accounted for a substantial majority of domestic production of CASSLP pipe in 2015, the Commission determined that the domestic interested party group response was adequate,” the explanation noted.

Although the Commission did not receive a response from any interested parties in Japan, it received a joint response filed by S.C. Silcotub S.A., a Romanian producer of CASSLP pipe, and Tenaris Global Services (U.S.A.) Corporation, an affiliated U.S. importer of subject merchandise from Romania, the explanatory document said.

Source: Metal Miner