SCHAGRIN ASSOCIATES
Recent Successes
In October 2022, the U.S. International Trade Commission voted to impose duties on Oil Country Tubular Goods from Argentina, Mexico, Russia, and South Korea that it found had injured the U.S. industry. Imports of these products from the subject countries were valued at approximately $950 million in 2021. Schagrin Associates filed the petitions underlying the investigations on behalf of Borusan Mannesmann Pipe U.S., Inc. (Baytown, TX); PTC Liberty Tubulars LLC (Liberty, TX); U.S. Steel Tubular Products, Inc. (Pittsburgh, PA); United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (Pittsburgh, PA); and Welded Tube USA, Inc. (Lackawanna, NY). This was a major success that will help ensure that the United States’ oil and gas producers will have access to a diverse and resilient supply of oil country tubular goods from the domestic industry.
In October 2022, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) issued a final affirmative determination as to evasion pursuant to the Enforce and Protect Act (“EAPA”) with respect to six U.S. importers involved in a scheme to transship wooden cabinets from China through Malaysia to avoid the payment of antidumping and countervailing duties. The EAPA investigation was initiated based on evidence provided to Customs by Schagrin Associates on behalf of the American Kitchen Cabinet Alliance ("AKCA").
In February 2022, Schagrin Associates succeeded with claims that unfairly traded imports of Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene (“PTFE”) from India and Russia caused material injury to U.S. producers of the same product. As a result of this determination, the U.S. Department of Commerce imposed remedial antidumping and countervailing duties of 41.90 percent on imports of PTFE from India and 19.89 percent on imports of granular PTFE from Russia. Schagrin Associates filed the underlying petitions on behalf of Daikin America, Inc, which makes the product in Decatur, AL.
Acting on allegations filed by Schagrin Associates on behalf of Cambria Company LLC under the Enforce and Protect Act (“EAPA”), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“Customs”) in December 2021 cracked down on two illegal schemes used by importers to evade existing tariffs on quartz surface products made in China. As a result of Customs’ findings, each of the importers involved will pay tariffs between 300% and 500% of the value of the imported goods.
Schagrin Associates convinced the U.S. International Trade Commission in 2021 that unfairly traded imports of methionine from three countries – France, Japan, and Spain – injured domestic methionine producers. As a result of these findings, the U.S. Department of Commerce impose antidumping duties of 43.82 percent on methionine from France, 37.53 percent on imports of methionine from Spain, and 76.50 percent on imports from Japan. Schagrin Associates filed the petitions on behalf of Novus International, Inc., which is headquartered in St. Charles, Missouri.
In 2021, the U.S. International Trade Commission found that seamless standard line and pressure pipe from Czechia, Korea, Russia, and Ukraine injured domestic producers. Consequently, the U.S. Department of Commerce instructed U.S. Customs to collect antidumping duties at rates ranging from 6.22 to 253.10 percent. Schagrin Associates filed the cases on behalf of domestic producer Vallourec Star, LP.
On June 23, 2021, the U.S. International Trade Commission determined that U.S. producers of passenger vehicle and light truck tires were materially injured by unfairly traded imports from Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. As a result, these imports will be subject to duties of 14.72 – 27.05 percent ad valorem for Korean imports; 20.04 – 101.84 percent for Taiwanese imports; 14.62 – 21.09 percent for Thai imports; and 6.23 – 7.89 percent for Vietnamese imports. Notably, in its investigation of tires from Vietnam, Commerce for the first time determined that currency undervaluation constituted a subsidy and imposed remedial duties as a result. Imports of these products from the four countries were valued at more than $4.3 billion in 2020.
In addition to the above recent successes, Schagrin Associates has a track record of winning some of the largest and most complicated antidumping and countervailing duty cases, including a case against $1.8 billion of hot-rolled steel flat products from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom, a case against $900 million of cold-rolled steel flat products from Brazil, China, India, Japan, Korea, Russia, and the United Kingdom, a case against $2.1 billion of corrosion-resistant steel products from China, India, Italy, Korea, and Taiwan, and a case against $650 million of cut-to-length steel plate from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, and Turkey.