The US Department of Commerce (DOC) has officially began an anti-dumping investigation into copper pipes imported from Vietnam, with the alleged dumping margins of 111.82%.

The Trade Remedies Authority of Vietnam under the Ministry of Industry and Trade stated on July 22 that the period under investigation ranged from October 1, 2019, to March 31.

According to data revealed by the DOC, the country’s total export turnover for the product to the US last year reached US$146 million.

Following the launch of the probe, the DOC will move to finalise their decisions regarding respondent selection within 20 days of the investigation notice being published.

Once the selection is completed, the DOC will then send questionnaires to mandatory respondents and request them to reply within a 30-day period.

In line with US regulations, if relevant local firms fail to co-operate with the investigating agencies or do not submit complete responses in a timely manner, then the DOC will use all existing data in order to reach a conclusion on the matter.

As scheduled, the DOC will issue their preliminary conclusions regarding their anti-dumping investigation on December 17.

The launch of the probe comes after copper pipes became the fifth product to be sued by the US for trade remedies since the start of the year.