Commerce Finds Semi-Finished Trash Cans Subject to Stainless Sheet and Strip AD/CVD Orders
Semi-finished trash can components imported by Hans-Mill are still subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on stainless steel sheet and strip from China, even though they are coated, cut to size and drilled, the Commerce Department said in a scope ruling issued May 9.
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The scope of the AD/CVD orders on stainless steel sheet and strip “specifies that products may experience ‘further processing’ provided that the specific dimensions described in the scope are maintained following the processing,” Commerce said. “Hans-Mill’s products retain the specific dimensions of sheet and strip subject to the scope of the Orders even after undergoing the treatments involving fingerprint resistant coating, layer of film protection, and five pre-drilled holes,” it said.
Imported from China, the stainless steel trash can bodies imported by Hans-Mill are produced by cutting surface-drawing stainless steel coils and grinding it before applying the coating and a protective layer of film, cutting it to size and shape and drilling the holes. The steel meets the dimensional requirements and physical specifications in the scope, and the trash can bodies don’t fall in any exclusion listed in the scope.
Though Hans-Mill claimed the fingerprint-resistant coating, protective film and drilled holes prevent the trash can bodies from being used in any other applications, the scope of the AD/CVD orders explicitly lists products that are coated or punched.
And Commerce has in the past issued scope rulings that found similar products subject to stainless steel sheet and strip duties, the agency said. One involved a different Hans-Mill product with finger-print resistant coating, Commerce said. The other involved exercise equipment, where Commerce found holes punched in the steel did not remove the products from the scope of the orders, it said.