Brass Rod From Korea: Commerce’s Preliminary CVD Review Sets Subsidy Rates at 0.20%-0.52% — What It Means for Buyers of Brass Feedstock and Machined Brass Parts

On September 10, 2026, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit published the preliminary results of the countervailing duty (CVD) administrative review of brass rod from the Republic of Korea (Korea) (investigation C-580-917; Federal Register Doc 2026-18491, 91 FR 57540-57542, applicable September 10, 2026). Commerce preliminarily determined that countervailable subsidies were provided to producers and exporters of brass rod from Korea during the period of review (POR), September 29, 2023 through December 31, 2024. The preliminary company-specific net subsidy rates are low, and the all-others rate is unchanged – so the practical stakes for a buyer sit less in the headline number than in what a live review means for cash-deposit mechanics, origin records, and feedstock pricing.

Brass rod is not a finished machined part, but it is the direct feedstock for CNC-turned brass components – valve bodies, fittings, connectors, bushings, and threaded parts. A trade-remedy action on the rod therefore bears on the cost and compliance posture of anyone buying brass stock or machining brass parts, which is why it belongs on a metal-parts buyer’s radar.

What the Preliminary Results Established

The confirmed facts come straight off the notice and are dated. Commerce initiated this administrative review on July 25, 2025 (90 FR 35268). On August 18, 2025, it selected Booyoung Industry (BYI) and Daechang Co. Ltd. (Daechang) as the mandatory respondents. The timeline was extended twice by government shutdown tolling – a 47-day toll on November 14, 2025, a further 21-day toll on November 24, 2025 – with additional extensions on March 24 and August 31, 2026, moving the preliminary deadline to September 4, 2026.

For the POR, Commerce preliminarily determined the following net countervailable subsidy rates (percent ad valorem):

• Booyoung Industry: 0.29% (2023, de minimis) and 0.52% (2024).
• Daechang Co. Ltd. (found cross-owned with Essentech Co., Ltd.; Seowon Co., Ltd.; Taewoo Co., Ltd.; and IMI Co., Ltd.): 0.47% (2023, de minimis) and 0.20% (2024, de minimis).

The all-others rate remains 2.87 percent, the rate established in the original investigation (89 FR 50263, June 13, 2024). Commerce also relied in part on facts otherwise available with adverse inferences under sections 776(a) and (b) of the Tariff Act for certain elements of the analysis – a procedural point, but one telling a buyer the record was not fully complete on every program.

Why a Brass Rod Review Reaches CNC Machining Buyers

Brass (a copper-zinc alloy) is a staple free-machining material: it turns and mills cleanly, holds tight tolerances, and resists corrosion in plumbing, electrical, and fluid-handling service. Grades such as C36000 and the aluminum brasses are common in turned parts. The price and availability of brass rod therefore feed the quoting basis of any brass component program, and a CVD review on the rod is upstream of the part.

The mechanism is the same one we described for the preliminary antidumping review of brass rod from Brazil: trade relief attaches to a scoped product, a producing country, and a determined rate. Korea and Brazil are separate proceedings on the same physical product, and the rates carry in opposite directions – Brazil’s preliminary AD margin was high, Korea’s preliminary subsidy rates here low or de minimis. For a buyer, that spread is a sourcing signal, not a formality.

1. The Numbers Are Low, But a Live Review Still Means Administrative Obligations

At 0.20% to 0.52%, with several figures at or below the 0.50 percent de minimis threshold, the subsidy exposure on these two Korean producers is small. Under 19 CFR 351.106(c)(1), a rate below 0.50 percent is de minimis, and the corresponding cash-deposit rate is set to zero. That is materially different from a high-rate order, and buyers should not read a low preliminary rate as a licence to ignore the review.

The reason: these are preliminary results. Commerce intends to issue final results within 120 days, and rates can move between the preliminary and final stages as case briefs and rebuttal briefs are filed. Anyone pricing Korean brass feedstock on the current figures is pricing on an interim number.

2. It Is the All-Others Rate, Not the Two Respondents, That Most Importers Face

This is the point most often missed. Only BYI and Daechang have company-specific rates here. Every other Korean producer and exporter keeps the 2.87 percent all-others rate from the investigation. A buyer sourcing Korean brass rod from a mill that was not individually reviewed is therefore exposed to a cash-deposit requirement an order of magnitude above the two named-firm rates – and, per the notice, when a producer and exporter both have company-specific rates that differ, the applicable cash-deposit rate is the higher of the two. Supplier identity, not just country, decides the number.

3. Origin and Scope Discipline Carry to the Machined Part

As with the site’s notes on proposed additions to the Section 232 derivative-article list covering copper products, the cost of a machined brass part is now partly a function of where the metal was made and how it was transformed. A buyer who sources finished machined brass components indirectly inherits the origin posture of the rod behind them. Documented melt-and-cast or mill origin on the feedstock is what makes the difference auditable at customs rather than an assumption. This is the same origin-trail discipline that governs supplier selection in general: a verifiable, papered chain is a cost-control tool, not paperwork theatre.

What Buyers of Brass Feedstock and Brass Parts Should Verify

Nothing here changes the machinability of brass or today’s quoted price of any specific alloy. What it supports is a short, reusable check for any Korean or cross-border brass purchase:

• Confirm the producing mill, not just the country. Confirm whether the rod supplier is a company-specific respondent or falls under the 2.87 percent all-others rate, and note that producer/exporter rate mismatches settle at the higher figure.
• Track the review to final. These are preliminary results; final rates are due within 120 days and can differ. Re-price terms once the final results publish.
• Keep feedstock origin records. Ask for documented mill origin and processing history for the brass rod so origin claims are defensible if scope or derivative-article rules later apply.
• Model landed cost with duty pass-through. Confirm which party is importer of record and whether a quote assumes CVD cash-deposit pass-through – the importer carries the deposit obligation regardless of contract price.

Limited Conclusions

What is established and dated: on September 10, 2026, Commerce published preliminary results of the CVD administrative review of brass rod from Korea (C-580-917; Doc 2026-18491, 91 FR 57540, applicable September 10, 2026) for the POR September 29, 2023 – December 31, 2024, preliminarily finding countervailable subsidies, with company-specific rates of 0.29%/0.52% for Booyoung Industry and 0.47%/0.20% for Daechang, and the all-others rate unchanged at 2.87 percent. The review was initiated July 25, 2025, and extended by shutdown tolling before the September 4, 2026 preliminary deadline.

The durable takeaway is that a low preliminary subsidy rate is not the same as an inactive order: the all-others rate, producer/exporter rate mismatches, and the still-pending final determination all affect the cash-deposit number an importer owes on brass feedstock. This review concerns brass rod and implies no change to any machined part’s physical properties. But the habit is general – identify the producing mill, keep origin records, and price on landed cost that includes applicable duties – and it keeps cost, quality, and compliance decisions audit-ready across product categories.

References

• Commerce, Enforcement & Compliance. “Brass Rod From the Republic of Korea: Preliminary Results of Countervailing Duty Administrative Review; 2023-2024.” Federal Register Doc 2026-18491, 91 FR 57540, September 10, 2026. Retrieved September 11, 2026. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/10/2026-18491/
• Official PDF, govinfo.gov (U.S. GPO). FR Doc 2026-18491, 91 FR 57540-57542, September 10, 2026. Retrieved September 11, 2026. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2026-09-10/pdf/2026-18491.pdf
• Original order and all-others rate, 89 FR 50263 (June 13, 2024), and review initiation, 90 FR 35268 (July 25, 2025), both cited in the September 10 preliminary notice.

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