Standard Steel Welded Wire Mesh From Mexico: Final Affirmative Determination of Circumvention

The U.S. Department of Commerce has issued a final affirmative determination that certain imports of low-carbon steel (LCS) wire produced in Mexico and then assembled or completed into standard steel welded wire mesh inside the United States are circumventing existing antidumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders originally imposed on welded wire mesh from Mexico. This circumvention finding means that importers have been routing Mexican-origin LCS wire into the U.S. — stopping short of the finished welded wire mesh product — to avoid the AD/CVD duties that would apply if the finished product were imported directly from Mexico. By completing the final assembly steps on U.S. soil, these actors sought to sidestep the trade remedy orders. As a result of this determination, the imported Mexican LCS wire used in this process will now be subject to the same AD and CVD duty rates as fully finished welded wire mesh imported directly from Mexico. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will be directed to collect applicable duties on such entries. This ruling is significant for U.S. steel wire mesh producers who originally sought the AD/CVD orders to protect against unfairly traded Mexican imports, as it closes a loophole that had allowed circumvention of those protections.

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