Now Open: antidumping investigation on Brazilian imports of cold-rolled carbon steel products from China

In brief

SECEX (the Brazilian Secretariat of International Trade) initiated a new antidumping investigation against Brazilian imports of Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Products from China on 19 August 2024. The products are commonly classified under the NCM codes 7209.15.00, 7209.16.00, 7209.17.00, 7209.18.00, 7209.25.00, 7209.26.00, 7209.27.00, 7209.28.00, 7209.90.00, 7211.23.00, 7211.29.10, 7211.29.20, 7225.19.00, 7225.50.90, 7226.19.00, and 7226.92.00.

Cold-Rolled Carbon Steel Products are used as inputs in a wide range of applications in the construction, automotive, and white goods sectors.

The original text of the Official Notice of Initiation of the antidumping investigation (in Portuguese) is available in the following link.

Relevance of stakeholder participation

Active participation of importers, exporters, and any other interested parties in the investigation may be decisive in securing a more favorable outcome. Interested parties can request to be admitted as parties in the investigation until 8 September 2024[1], provided that they demonstrate the extent to which they could be affected by the imposition of the antidumping duty.

• Deadline for replying to the Importer’s Questionnaire: 30 days as of acknowledgement of receipt (presumed 3 days after the date of electronic transmission by the authority);
• Deadline for replying to the Exporter’s Questionnaire: 30 days as of acknowledgement of receipt (presumed 7 days after the date of electronic transmission by the authority).

Usually, a public interest assessment may be requested only after the conclusion of the trade remedies investigation, as established by SECEX Ordinance No. 282/2023 (additional information is available in our Legal Alert on the subject).

More details

The new investigation was initiated upon the request of Usina Siderúrgica de Minas Gerais S.A., with the support of ArcelorMittal Brasil S.A. and Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional – CSN .

• Investigated product: Cold-rolled carbon steel products (flat-rolled carbon steel, alloyed or unalloyed, in sheet form (not coiled) or in coils (rolls), of any width or thickness (cold-rolled).
• Uses: Cold-rolled carbon steel is processed into various types of steel products, such as Commercial Quality Steel (used in construction, pipes, white goods, and general use); Stamping (suitable for stamping processes in the automotive industry, white goods, construction, and general use); Bake Hardening (BH) Steel (used by the automotive industry, mainly for closing panels such as hoods, trunk lids, doors, and fenders); Medium and High-Carbon Steel (used in unexposed panels, small components, reinforcements, and structural parts in the automotive industry); Medium and High-Carbon Micro-alloyed Steel (used in structural or reinforcement parts in the automotive industry); and Vitreous Enameling Steel (used in household utensils such as stoves and ovens).
• Dumping margin – China: 71 USD/ton /   79.67%.

[1] 20-day deadline, pursuant to Article 45, paragraph third, of the Decree No. 8,058/2013, accounted for in a conservative manner.