US Imposes Anti-Dumping Duties on Steel From Russia, Belarus

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Commerce Department said in a statement, that the US would impose anti-dumping duties of up to 756.9 percent on imports of steel wire rod from Russia, Belarus and the United Arab Emirates after determining that the goods were being sold in the United States at less than fair value.

"The Commerce Department determined that exporters from Belarus, Russia, and the UAE sold wire rod in the United States at 84.10 – 756.93 percent less than fair value," the statement said on Tuesday. "Commerce will instruct US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits from importers of wire rod from Belarus (280.02 percent), Russia (436.80 – 756.93 percent), and the UAE (84.10 percent)."

Last year, imports of wire rod from Russia totaled around $32.3 million, while Belarus' exports tallied in at some $10.4 million and the UAE's amounted to an estimated $7 million, the Commerce Department said. "The Department of Commerce is committed to protecting US companies being hurt by foreign manufacturers that refuse to play fair," US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross was quoted as saying in the statement.

The United States last month set preliminary duties of up to 142 percent on steel rod from seven other countries — Italy, South Korea, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. The Commerce Department will announce its decision on the final rates for those duties on January 9, 2018.