Circumvention Inquiry Initiated on Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders for Corrosion-Resistant Steel from Vietnam via Indonesia

The U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) has initiated a country-wide circumvention inquiry targeting imports of certain corrosion-resistant steel products (CORE) that are completed in Indonesia using cold-rolled steel (CRS) manufactured in Vietnam. The inquiry was triggered by a formal request from two major U.S. steel producers, Steel Dynamics Inc. and Nucor Corporation. The core concern is that Vietnamese-origin cold-rolled steel is being shipped to Indonesia for finishing operations, then re-exported to the United States as Indonesian CORE — effectively bypassing existing antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders that apply to CORE directly from Vietnam. This type of trade routing, if confirmed, constitutes circumvention under U.S. trade law. If Commerce finds circumvention, CORE imports completed in Indonesia using Vietnamese CRS could become subject to the same AD/CVD duties as direct Vietnamese imports. This would significantly affect importers, Indonesian steel processors, and downstream U.S. buyers of CORE products used in construction, automotive, and appliance manufacturing. The inquiry is country-wide in scope, meaning it applies broadly to all such imports from Indonesia rather than targeting specific companies, and could result in duties being applied retroactively to merchandise entered during the inquiry period.

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