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The U.S. International Trade Commission issued detailed findings of its investigation (Investigation Nos. 701-TA-512 and 731-TA-1248 (Final), USITC Publication 4509, December 2014) that culminated with the December 2014 unanimous vote to apply anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders on imports of carbon and certain alloy steel wire rod from China.

Apparent U.S. consumption of wire rod increased from 5.13 million short tons in 2011 to 5.33 million short tons in 2012, then declined to 5.31 million short tons in 2013, for an overall 2011-13 increase of 3.5%, according to the Commission’s public report ‘Carbon and Certain Alloy Steel Wire Rod from China’ (Investigation Nos. 701-TA-512 and 731-TA-1248 (Final), USITC Publication 4509, December 2014).

The domestic wire rod industry was the largest supplier of wire rod to the U.S. market during the period of investigation (January 2011 through June 2014), although its share of apparent U.S. consumption declined from 75.6% in 2011 to 67.8% in 2013.

By 2013, subject imports from China became the largest individual import source of supply to the U.S. market. The share of apparent U.S. consumption held by subject imports increased dramatically from a fraction of a percent in 2011 to 11.7% in 2013.

Subject imports were virtually nonexistent at the beginning of the period of investigation, but jumped from 144 short tons in 2011 to 241,966 short tons in 2012, and then to 618,790 short tons in 2013. Subject import market share rose from less than 0.05% in 2011 to 4.5% in 2012 and 11.7% in 2013.

“The increase in subject import market penetration came largely at the expense of the domestic industry,” the USITC found. “The domestic industry lost 7.7 percentage points of market share from 2011 to 2013, with a decline from 75.6% in 2011 to 67.8% in 2013.”

The U.S. already has antidumping duty orders in effect on wire rod from Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, and Trinidad and Tobago, and a U.S. countervailing duty order is in effect on wire rod from Brazil.

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