The U.S. Commerce Department issued a preliminary ruling Monday that cold-rolled steel products imported from Japan and 19 other exporters are being dumped on the U.S. market.
The department set dumping penalty margins of 115.22 percent each for Nippon Steel Corp. and Kawasaki Steel Corp., and 112.56 percent for other Japanese steelmakers.
In September, U.S. steelmakers, including Bethlehem Steel Corp. and LTV Steel Co., filed a dumping complaint targeting imports of cold-rolled steel from 20 exporters. The complaint was filed after the U.S. International Trade Commission rejected a similar petition in March 2000 to impose antidumping duties on cold-rolled steel from six exporters.
In response to the new complaint, the ITC issued a preliminary ruling in November that the cold-rolled steel imports are hurting the U.S. steel industry.