Mexico's economy ministry has announced the results of a review of an antidumping duty on imports of hexagonal galvanized steel wire mesh from China.

The ministry confirmed the duty will remain in place and unchanged at US$0.45/kg.

The duty was first introduced at US$2.80/kg in 2002 and lowered to the current rate in 2009

in an earlier "sunset" review, required every five years by the World Trade Organization.

Mexico has imposed a string of antidumping duties on steel imports in a bid to protect the national industry from unfair trade practices, with China among the main alleged offenders.

In June the country imposed duties of US$1,252/t on Chinese seamless steel tube imports following a complaint by Mexican seamless steel tube manufacturer Tamsa, controlled by Tenaris (NYSE: TS), which said Chinese imports of the products at "distorted" prices were harming Mexican producers, and approved an investigation into imports of galvanized steel mesh from China.

Mexican steel industry chamber Canacero singled out Chinese imports as causing "serious damage" to the sector, with Chinese steel production subsidized by its government.

China exported 143,219t of steel products to Mexico in the first three months of 2013, up 18.4% from 120,934t in the same period last year, the chamber added.

COSTA RICA

In a separate announcement, the economy ministry also imposed a quota of 2,500t/y on imports of coated or plated flat-rolled iron or non-alloy steel from Costa Rica, from the year beginning July 1, under a free trade agreement with Central American countries.

2013-07-04 15:00 

Source: www.bnamericas.com