Department of Commerce releases findings from brake drum dumping investigation

The U.S. Department of Commerce on Jan. 24 announced its preliminary affirmative determinations in the antidumping duty (AD) investigations of certain brake drums from the People’s Republic of China (China) and the Republic of Türkiye (Türkiye).

The preliminary determinations follow November's announcement of the department's concurrent countervailing duty (CVD) investigations of brake drums from China and Türkiye. 

This month's preliminary dumping rates were different than the numbers levied in the countervailing investigation for operations in both nations. Ten producers and exporters in China received preliminary dumping rates of 109.64%, with China-wide entity being hit at a rate of 160.79%. 

[RELATED: Preliminary determinations made in brake drum countervailing investigation]

From Türkiye, the preliminary dumping rate was 142.29% for three operations, and 12.73% for Eku Fren ve Dok. San. A.S. and all others.

The Department of Commerce will release its final determinations from its investigation by June 16. The final determinations from the countervailing investigation are due in April. Issuance of orders in both investigations will come in the summer.

Until both investigations conclude, it remains unclear how much the price of drums will be impacted. 

In an article shared with its customers, DuraBrake recently stated it "has been preparing for this for the last six months, and given that brake drums are the most significant part of our business, we have retooled our supply chain and stand ready to supply cast drums to the market."

The company added, "When prices of cast iron drums increase significantly like they did in 2022, fleets and owner-operators find ways to make their drums last longer — replacing them at longer intervals, turning drums, using better brake shoes, treating their brake drums, and using steel-shell brake drums, which were easier to purchase and were much less of a premium. We anticipate many of these behaviors will return to combat higher cast drum prices. The most prominent return we expect is a significant increase in steel-shell drums, which we anticipate will be on parity with cast iron drum prices or within a close range."

Several other brake drum suppliers refrained to comment on the preliminary determination. 

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