Trussed Flooring for Pig Farrowing Crates Subject to AD/CV Duties on Steel Grating, Commerce Says

A flooring system for pig farrowing made of a galvanized steel tribar truss floor is subject to antidumping and countervailing duties on steel grating from China (A-570-947/C-570-948), even when the flooring is imported as part of a pig farrowing crate system, the Commerce Department said in a scope ruling issued May 14.

Exported from China by Weihai Gaosai Metal Product, the flooring system is made from parallel steel rods or bars, connected by welded crossbars, and reinforced by trusses below. Intended to hold a sow as she gives birth to piglets and nurses them after, the portion that bears the weight of the sow is a removable cast iron section, which is not subject to AD/CV duties on steel grating, Commerce said. Weihai Gaosai argued the trusses make the flooring a new product not covered by the steel grating AD/CVD orders, but Commerce disagreed.

“The fact that the tribar truss floor has additional components (the trusses), besides the steel grating, does not mean the steel decking used in the tribar truss floor is now a new product outside the scope of the orders. That is because the essential characteristics of the steel decking are largely unchanged by the additional features,” Commerce said. “Likewise, the fact that the tribar truss floor has flat steel angles on its four corners that serve as legs is a minor customization that does not alter the essential characteristics of the steel grating floor.”

Pairing the steel grating with the cast iron section does not take it outside the scope of the orders, Commerce said. “The fact that the steel and cast-iron components are, as a whole, considered a flooring system does not mean that the steel grating component is no longer subject steel grating,” it said.

Nor does pairing the steel grating system with other components to make a full pig farrowing crate, Commerce said. The scope of the steel grating orders does not specifically exclude steel grating that has been incorporated into other products, it said. And several factors indicate that the flooring system retains “its own individual character, even when combined with the rest of the pig farrowing crate, such that it can be viewed as a unique product in its own right.” These include that the flooring system can be sold separately, is not permanently attached and is listed separately on the invoice in the customs entry package, Commerce said.

“[I]t is not unusual to find subject steel grating incorporated as one part of a larger product or structure and often used as flooring,” Commerce said. “As stated in the Petition, steel grating can be incorporated in pedestrian walkways, mezzanines, catwalks, overhead sign platforms, fire escape platforms, railroad car stand platforms, stairways, and flooring. Yet there is nothing in the 19 CFR 351.225(k)(l) sources indicating that subject steel grating is outside the scope of the orders if it is sold as a component of a larger product.”

In a separate ruling released the same day, Commerce found an importer’s cast iron flooring for pig farrowing crates is not subject to AD/CV duties on steel grating. “The scope of the Steel Grating Orders applies to ‘steel’ grating, not cast iron grating,” the agency said.