Ministry of Economy initiates investigation into imports of steel handles

The Ministry of Economy of Mexico reported this Thursday that it began the administrative procedure to examine the validity of the final countervailing duty imposed on imports of steel pulls and zamak originating in China, regardless of the country of origin.

On August 27, 2020, Fundición Inyectada del Centro (FINCSA) and, on October 23 and November 13, 2020, Rish expressed their interest in having the Ministry of Economy begin the examination of the validity of the final compensatory fee imposed on these imports,

The Ministry of Economy set the examination period from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020 and the analysis period from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2020.

FINCSA and Rish are companies incorporated under Mexican law. FINCSA’s main activity is the smelting of all kinds of metals and electrolytic finishes and any commercial act related to its purpose.

For its part, Rish’s main activity is the purchase, sale, distribution and manufacture of locks, padlocks, keys, hinges, pins, hardware and, in general, any item related to the locksmith or hardware industry.

To prove their quality as national producers of steel and zamac handles, they presented letters from the National Association of the Locks, Padlocks, Hardware and Similar Industry, AC, dated October 23 and November 10, 2020, which thus accredits them .

Ministry of Economy

Initially, on December 23, 2015, the final resolution of the anti-dumping investigation on imports of steel handles and zamac originating in China was published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (DOF), regardless of the country of origin.

By means of this Resolution, the Ministry of the Economy determined a definitive countervailing duty of US $ 10.21 per kilogram.

Then, on August 28, 2019, the Notice on the validity of countervailing duties was published in the DOF. By this means, the national producers and any person with a legal interest were informed that the definitive countervailing duties imposed on the products listed in said Notice would be eliminated as of the expiration date indicated therein for each one, except that a domestic producer express in writing its interest in having an examination procedure initiated.

The product under examination are steel handles and zamac handles, which do not have a commercial or technical name other than colloquial, which according to the «Dictionary of Mexicanisms of the Mexican Academy of Language» is defined as a handle for pull something.

The genus is hardware and the species is pull, so, regardless of their composition, pull handles are fittings for use in mobile furniture or in those that are attached to the building such as closets, fitted kitchens and shelves, among others; so they are also identified in the market as «fittings» and «furniture fittings».

Among the national producers are: Foundry Injected from the Center, Metals Injected from Ocotlán, and Rish.

According to the Ministry of Economy, the imported companies involved are: Bimca y Asociados, Cerraco Mex, Chapa Industrias, Herrasa, and Importaciones Soarma.

Exporters include Hangzhou Advance Hardware Manufacturing Corp., and Huzhou Daybreak Imp & Exp Co. Ltd.