The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) has launched an anti-dumping investigation into certain collated steel staples imported from Taiwan, South Korea and China.

In a statement released Friday, the DOC said the investigation aims to determine whether firms in Taiwan, South Korea and China sold their collated staples in the U.S. market at unfairly low prices.

The DOC said the investigation was launched after petitioner Kyocera Senco Industrial Tools Inc., headquartered in Cincinnati of Ohio, accused them of dumping collated staples into the U.S. market and undermining market competition.

According to the DOC, the alleged dumping margins are 119.37- 122.55 percent for staple products from China, 10.23-14.25 percent for imports from South Korea, and 47.60 percent for Taiwan's staples.

In addition, Kyocera has also filed a petition, accusing China of violating the U.S. anti-subsidy regulations by providing 27 unfair subsidy programs, and an investigation has been launched into the allegation, the DOC said.

The subsidy programs were five preferential loan and interest rate programs, two export credit programs, five income tax and other direct subsidy programs, four indirect tax programs, six grant programs, and five less-than-adequate remuneration programs, the DOC added.

The products in the investigations referred to staples made from steel wire having a nominal diameter from 0.0355 inches to 0.0830 inches, and having a nominal leg length from 0.25 inches to 3.0 inches, and a nominal crown width from 0.187 inches to 1.125 inches, according to the DOC.

It said the U.S. International Trade Administration (ITC) will launch its own investigations into the anti-dumping duty (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) investigations. The ITC is scheduled to make its preliminary determinations by July 22 to rule whether the accused products have caused damage in the U.S. market.

The DOC said its preliminary ruling on the CVD investigation is scheduled to be made on Sept. 3, and the preliminary decision in the AD probe is scheduled to come out on Nov. 14.

If the DOC makes affirmative findings in these investigations, and if the ITC determines that dumped staple imports from Taiwan, South Korea and China, and unfairly subsidized imports from China were causing injury to the U.S. industry, the department will impose punitive tariffs on those imports.

According to the statistics released by the DOC, imports of collated staples from China, South Korea, and Taiwan were estimated at US$88.8 million, US$6.9 million, and US$5.1 million, respectively.