US Finds Vietnamese Copper Tube Dumping Would Resume Without Anti-Dumping Duty

The United States found on Oct. 28, 2026, that ending its duty on Vietnamese copper tube would likely revive dumping.

The U.S. Department of Commerce said on Oct. 28, 2026, that ending its anti-dumping duty on Vietnamese copper pipe and tube would revive dumping.

Commerce found that dumping would likely continue or return if the 2021 order on seamless refined copper pipe and tube from Vietnam ended¹. It put the likely dumping margins at up to 8.35%¹.

In short, Vietnamese copper pipe and tube still faces the extra duty at the U.S. border for now. The final word on keeping the order now rests with a second agency, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC).

What did Commerce decide on Vietnamese copper pipe?

An anti-dumping duty is an extra import tax on goods sold abroad below their normal price. The United States placed such a duty on copper pipe and tube from Vietnam in August 2021¹.

Such orders face a five-year review, also called a "sunset review"². The review asks whether removing the duty would bring the unfair pricing back. This is the first sunset review of the Vietnam order¹.

Commerce’s answer is yes. Its notice in the Federal Register, the U.S. government’s daily official journal, says revoking the order "would be likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of dumping"¹. The finding is applicable from Oct. 28, 2026¹.

How large are the dumping margins?

A dumping margin is the gap between the price in the U.S. market and the product’s normal price. Commerce expresses it as a percentage of the price.

Commerce found that margins of up to 8.35% would likely prevail if the order ended¹. It describes these as weighted-average margins, meaning averages that give more weight to larger sales¹.

This figure is much lower than the margin claimed at the start of the case. When Commerce opened its investigation in July 2020, the alleged dumping margin was 111.82%³. That figure came from the U.S. industry’s petition, not from a Commerce finding³.

The notice does not list company-by-company rates. Those rates are set in the order and its later reviews, and the sunset notice points readers to a separate decision memorandum for the full discussion¹.

Why was the review quick?

Commerce ran an expedited 120-day review, a shorter version of the normal process¹. It chose this route because only one side of the case took part.

The U.S. side took part in full. On July 9, 2026, a domestic industry group filed a notice that it would take part¹. The group is a trade association whose members make, produce or sell copper pipe and tube in the United States¹. It filed its full written response on July 22, 2026¹.

No Vietnamese producer, exporter or other foreign party filed a full response¹. Commerce told the ITC about this on Aug. 24, 2026¹. Under U.S. trade rules, that silence allows the faster review¹.

The petition that started the case in 2020 came from the American Copper Tube Coalition³. Its members then included companies of the Mueller Group and Cerro Flow Products, LLC³. The 2026 notice does not name the group that took part in the review.

Which goods does the order cover?

The order covers seamless refined copper pipe and tube from Vietnam¹. The full product description sits in Commerce’s decision memorandum, which is not attached to the notice¹.

The ITC’s 2020 summary of the original investigation described the goods in detail⁴. It covered all round, seamless copper pipes and tubes, including unfinished tubes called redraw hollows⁴. The pipes had to be at least 6 inches (152.4 mm) long⁴. Their outside diameter had to be under 12.130 inches (308.102 mm)⁴.

That description applied whatever the finish or shape of the tube⁴. It listed, for example:

• Wall and bore: any wall thickness, with a smooth inside or inner grooves or ridges.
• Making method: hot-finished, cold-drawn or annealed (heat-softened) tubes.
• Outer surface and ends: plain or with fins, and plain, flared, crimped or threaded ends.
• Extras: plastic or paint coating, insulation, caps, plugs or fittings.
• Shape: straight, coiled, bent or wound on spools.

Under this wide description, an insulated coil or a capped length of tube is still covered. Adding a coating or a fitting does not take a tube outside the description.

How did the duty on Vietnamese tube begin?

The case began on June 30, 2020, when the American Copper Tube Coalition filed its petition⁴. Commerce opened its investigation on July 21, 2020³.

At that time, U.S. imports of the tube from Vietnam were worth about $146.5 million in 2019, according to Commerce³. The ITC counted $152 million of Vietnamese imports in 2019⁴. It also counted $341 million of the same goods from other countries⁴. The leading sources were Vietnam, Canada, Korea, Mexico and Greece⁴.

In 2019 the U.S. industry had 4 producers⁴. Their plants were in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah and Virginia⁴.

The steps that followed were:

1. On Aug. 13, 2020, the ITC voted to continue the case, finding signs of harm to U.S. producers⁴.
2. On June 24, 2021, Commerce published its final finding of sales below fair value⁵.
3. On Aug. 5, 2021, the ITC told Commerce that dumped imports were harming the U.S. industry⁵.
4. On Aug. 13, 2021, Commerce issued the anti-dumping duty order⁵.

The final finding named one company for close examination⁵. That was Hailiang (Vietnam) Copper Manufacturing Company, with its trading arm Hongkong Hailiang Metal Trading Limited⁵.

Who is affected by the continued copper tube duty?

U.S. importers carry the cost first. The 2021 order made Vietnamese tube entering the United States subject to anti-dumping duties⁵. Importers must keep paying these duties while the order stands.

Vietnamese makers and exporters are also affected. Their tube stays more expensive at the U.S. border than tube from countries without such an order. None of them defended their case in this review¹.

U.S. producers of copper pipe and tube keep the protection they asked for in 2020. Their trade group was the only party to argue the case before Commerce¹.

Buyers further down the chain may also see the effect. Companies that buy imported tube to make other goods pay a higher price for Vietnamese supply.

What does the ITC still have to decide?

Commerce’s finding is only half of a sunset review. The ITC runs its own review of the same order².

The ITC asks a different question. It decides whether ending the order would likely bring back "material injury", meaning real harm, to U.S. producers². Commerce has told the ITC about the progress of its own review¹.

The ITC opened its review on July 1, 2026². It set July 31, 2026 as the deadline for answers to its questions². Comments on whether those answers were adequate were due by Sept. 8, 2026².

The ITC asked U.S. producers, importers and foreign makers for 2025 data². This included production, capacity, shipments, and import volumes and values². It uses such answers to decide between a full review and a faster one².

The ITC notice does not give a date for the final vote. Until that vote, Vietnamese copper pipe and tube remains under the 2021 order.

Key points on the Vietnamese copper pipe and tube duty

The table sums up the Oct. 28, 2026, decision.

The duty on Vietnamese copper pipe and tube stays in force while the ITC finishes its review. The ITC vote on whether ending the order would harm U.S. producers is the next step.

Sources

1. ↩ Federal Register :: Seamless Refined Copper Pipe and Tube From the Socialist Republic of Vietnam: Final Results of the Expedited First Sunset Review of the Antidumping Duty Order https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/10/28/2026-21930/seamless-refined-copper-pipe-and-tube-from-the-socialist-republic-of-vietnam-final-results-of-the
2. ↩ Seamless Refined Copper Pipe and Tube from Vietnam https://www.usitc.gov/sites/default/files/secretary/fed_reg_notices/sunset/731_1528_notice06242026sgl.pdf
3. ↩ U.S. Department of Commerce Initiates Antidumping Duty Investigation of Imports of Seamless Refined Copper Pipe and Tube from Vietnam https://www.trade.gov/press-release/us-department-commerce-initiates-antidumping-duty-investigation-imports-seamless
4. ↩ USITC Votes to Continue Investigation on Seamless Refined Copper Pipe and Tube from Vietnam | United States International Trade Commission https://www.usitc.gov/press_room/news_release/2020/er0813ll1627.htm
5. ↩ 2021-17320.pdf https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2021-08-13/pdf/2021-17320.pdf