Steel Wire Rod: Commerce Creates New AD Duty Exemption for Tire Cord Rod From UK, South Korea

Six U.S. manufacturers requested the review, saying they have no interest in keeping the duties in place for tire cord rod that’s grade 1078 or higher. Commerce will now “instruct CBP to liquidate without regard to antidumping duties, all unliquidated entries of merchandise covered by this partial revocation that were entered, or withdrawn from warehouse, on or after May 21, 2018, for which an end-use certification was filed with CBP at the time of entry summary, and to refund all AD cash deposits on all such merchandise, with applicable interest,” the agency said.

Commerce also will add the following language to the scope of the AD duty orders on steel wire rod from South Korea and the United Kingdom:

“Excluded from the scope of the antidumping duty orders from Korea and the United Kingdom are grade 1078 and higher tire cord quality wire rod to be used in the production of tire cord wire. Grade 1078 and higher tire cord quality wire rod refers to wire rod with not less than 0.78 percent of carbon and includes but is not limited to other high carbon grades of wire rod such as Grade 1078, 1080, 1085, 1086, 1090, and 1092.

“Grade 1078 and higher tire cord quality rod is defined as: (i) Grade 1078 and higher tire cord quality wire rod measuring not more than 6.0 mm in cross-sectional diameter; (ii) with an average partial decarburization of no more than 70 microns in depth (maximum individual 200 microns); (iii) having no nondeformable inclusions greater than 20 microns and no deformable inclusions greater than 35 microns; (iv) having a carbon segregation per heat average of 3.0 or better; (v) having a surface quality with no surface defects of a length greater than 0.15 mm; (vi) capable of being drawn to a diameter of 0.405 mm or less, and (vii) containing by weight the following elements in the proportions shown: (1) 0.78 percent or more of carbon, (2) less than 0.01 percent of aluminum, (3) 0.040 percent or less, in the aggregate, of phosphorus and sulfur, (4) 0.006 percent or less of nitrogen, (5) not more than 0.6 percent silicon; and (6) not more than 0.55 percent in the aggregate, of copper, nickel, and chromium. For purposes of the grade 1078 and higher tire cord quality wire rod, an inclusion will be considered to be deformable if its ratio of length (measured along the axis-that is, the direction of rolling-of the rod) over thickness (measured on the same inclusion in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the rod) is equal to or greater than three. The size of an inclusion for purposes of the 20 microns and 35 microns limitations is the measurement of the largest dimension observed on a longitudinal section measured in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the rod.

“The designation of the products as 'tire cord quality' indicates the acceptability of the product for use in the production of tire cord applications which require that the tire cord wire rod be drawn into wire with a diameter of 0.405 mm or less. These quality designations are presumed to indicate that these products are being used in tire cord applications, and such merchandise intended for the tire cord applications is not included in the scope. Importers of tire cord quality wire rod are required to file with CBP, at the time of the Entry Summary filing with CBP, a certification of end use that certifies that the Grade 1078 and above tire cord quality wire rod will be used only in the production of tire cord wire. In instances where the importer of record is not the end-user, the importer must provide written notice of the end-use requirement and an official of the end user must also sign a copy of the certification filed with CBP at the time of Entry Summary. Importers of record of tire cord wire rod are required to maintain a copy of the end-use certifications that were filed with the entry summaries with the CBP and to provide them at the request of CBP or Commerce.”

(Federal Register 04/08/19)