9/7/2010
HEADLINES
Nucor Fastener Appeals Moving Forward
Oral argument in DOC case scheduled for Sept. 16
Nucor Fasteners’ trade dispute with Asian fastener producers continues to make its way through the the U.S. Court of International Trade.
The company’s appeals on its antidumping and countervailing petitions continue to move through the legal system, with each case being handled by a different judge.
Nucor Fastener’s appeal on the Department of Commerce’s refusal to initiate consideration of currency undervaluation as a subsidy is on a “faster track,” trade attorney Matthew McGrath told GlobalFastenerNews.com.
letter-spacing: 0px;”>Reached by phone at his office in Washington DC, McGrath said all briefs have been filed in that case, with oral arguments set for Sept. 16 in New York.
“It’s a stretch,” McGrath said of the currency undervaluation appeal. “I think they were just keeping the ball in the air with this one.”
All three parties in the dispute — the U.S. Department of Justice, Nucor Fastener, and a group of importers — will have a chance to speak at the hearing.
The second appeal, involving the International Trade Commission’s unanimous decision that the domestic fastener industry had not been injured by alleged dumping of products on the market, has been partially briefed, McGrath noted. A full brief is due by mid-September, with a reply brief due on October 28 and oral arguments to be scheduled after that.
“Things are moving forward,” McGrath toldGlobalFastenerNews.com.
McGrath, who represents a group of importers in these cases, said the judge could find that the ITC failed to consider the affects of product sales declines, though in his opinion a reversal appears unlikely.
“Chances that this will change are slim.”
In the event the judge ruled in favor of Nucor Fastener, the case would be sent back to the ITC, which would need to reach a 4-2 decision in favor of the judge’s ruling to reinstate the case, McGrath explained.
The original ITC vote against Nucor Fastener’s antidumping petition was 6-0.
On November 6, 2009, the ITC unanimously rejected Nucor Fastener’s claims that standard fastener imports from China and Taiwan were being dumped domestically.
In its petitions, filed in September, Nucor Fastener alleged average dumping margins of 145% for Chinese imports, and 74% for imports from Taiwan.
But the ITC determined “there is not a reasonable indication that a U.S. industry is materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of imports of certain standard steel fasteners from China that are allegedly subsidized and from China and Taiwan that are allegedly sold in the United States at less than fair value.”
In its 137-page public report “Certain Standard Steel Fasteners from China and Taiwan,” the ITC concluded that standard fastener imports did not gain more market share from 2006 to 2008. Likewise, the commission said Nucor Fastener “failed to provide adequate details” to support allegations that it was losing sales and revenues to cheaper imports.
In the notice of appeal, Price disagreed, saying Nucor Fastener provided “detailed evidence of injury.” He noted that U.S. production and capacity utilization decreased by 50%; Chinese and Taiwanese imports grew to 56.8% of the market by “pervasively underselling U.S. fasteners by significant margins”; and that the U.S. industry lost production jobs, along with declines in shipments, investment, R&D and operating profit at a time when Chinese and Taiwanese producers “substantially increased capacity and inventories.”
“The U.S. fastener industry and its workers deserve a fair opportunity to present their case,” Price emphasized.
According to the ITC, from 2006 to 2008 imports of certain standard steel fasteners from China increased by 4.48% and were valued at an estimated $291 million in 2008. Imports from Taiwan over the same time period decreased by 19.09% and were valued at an estimated $395 million in 2008. ©2010 GlobalFastenerNews.com
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