Tubing Must Be True Rectangle for Mexico Light-Walled Pipe AD Duties, Commerce Says
Tubing with two straight and two concave sides is not square or rectangular, and isn’t subject to antidumping duties on light-walled rectangular pipe and tube from Mexico (A-201-836), the Commerce Department said in a recent scope ruling. Made by Maquilacero for intermediate bulk container cages, the tubing does not have two sets of parallel sides and four right angles, as required to be covered by the AD duty order, Commerce said.
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Nucor, the domestic manufacturer that had originally requested the AD duty order, had argued that Maquilacero’s tubing is so close to rectangular that, like other products that “essentially” have a rectangular or square cross-section, Commerce should deem it subject to AD duties. But Commerce declined to adopt that approach, noting the scope of the AD duty order does not mention tubing that is close to square or rectangular. “We decline to adopt an interpretation of the Order that would cover products that do not have a rectangular or square cross section,” Commerce said.
Commerce instead looked to dictionary definitions, finding that for an article to be rectangular or square -- and covered by the AD duty order -- it “must have a profile whose cross section consists of four sides where the opposite sides are parallel with one another and which include four right angles (i.e., rectangle), or a profile whose cross section is a rectangle with four equal sides (i.e., square).”
Maquilacero’s tubing doesn’t qualify, Commerce said. “The product description, schematics and photographs provided by Maquilacero demonstrate that two opposite sides of both tube models at issue bend inwards along the length of the tubes … and the four corners are not right angles. “Thus, the cross section of Maquilacero’s two products lack a rectangular or square cross section, which by definition include four right angles of 90 degrees each,” the agency said. “Further, the two sides are not parallel with one another as required for a rectangular or square cross section.”
Email ITTNews@warren-news.com for a copy of this scope ruling.