Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing From Italy: Commerce Sets a 68.95% Final Dumping Rate on Dalmine After the Company Declined to Cooperate

On September 16, 2026, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit published the final results of the 2024-2025 administrative review of the antidumping duty order on certain cold-drawn mechanical tubing of carbon and alloy steel from Italy (91 FR 58656, Doc 2026-18921; case A-475-838). Commerce assigned the mandatory respondent, Dalmine S.p.A., a weighted-average dumping margin of 68.95% for the period June 1, 2024 through May 31, 2025. The rate rests on an unusual footing: Dalmine told Commerce it would not participate, so the margin was computed from facts available with adverse inferences rather than from the company’s verified sales.

Cold-drawn mechanical tubing is not an exotic input: it is the starting stock for hydraulic cylinder barrels, piston rods, bushings, shafts and machined tube assemblies. A company-level rate at this level, alongside an unchanged 47.87% all-others rate, is a landed-cost and supplier-qualification event for anyone buying Italy-drawn tube.

What the Final Results Establish

• Period of review: June 1, 2024 through May 31, 2025.
• Commerce initiated the review on July 25, 2025 (90 FR 35268) and selected Dalmine S.p.A. as mandatory respondent.
• Dalmine notified Commerce on September 12, 2025 of its intent not to participate.
• Commerce therefore applied facts available with adverse inferences (AFA) under sections 776(a) and (b) of the Tariff Act of 1930; the rate derives from the petition, not from Dalmine’s verified sales.
• Preliminary results published May 14, 2026 (91 FR 27267, Doc 2026-09689) carried the same 68.95% margin, and no interested party commented. Commerce adopted them unchanged as final results.
• Assessment: CBP will assess 68.95% ad valorem on in-scope Dalmine entries during the POR, with instructions issued no earlier than 35 days after publication.
• Cash deposits on later entries: Dalmine 68.95%; previously reviewed firms keep their most recent company-specific rate; all others stay at 47.87% ad valorem, the all-others rate from the 2018 original investigation (83 FR 26962).

One clarification belongs here. The Federal Register abstract states Dalmine “made sales of subject merchandise at prices below normal value” during the POR. That language comes from the AFA rate adopted from the petition, not from a finding on Dalmine’s books: 68.95% is a cooperation-driven figure, not a measured price gap.

Why the Origin Rule Matters More Than the Margin

The scope text is where most sourcing surprises live. The order covers cold-drawn mechanical tubing of carbon and alloy steel, circular cross-section, 304.8 mm or more in length and less than 331 mm in actual outside diameter, regardless of wall thickness, surface finish or end finish. The tube must have been cold-drawn or otherwise cold-finished after initial tube formation in a way that changes diameter or wall thickness. It may start from welded (ERW) or seamless (pierced, pilgered, extruded) stock, and may be heat treated after cold working – annealing, normalising, quenching and tempering, stress relieving or finish annealing all remain in scope.

Two scope features reach into a machining supply chain:

• Place of cold-drawing determines country of origin. Tube drawn in a subject country and then subjected to minor working in a third country – heat treatment, cutting to length, straightening, non-destructive testing, deburring or chamfering – remains in scope. Machining a length of Italy-drawn tube into a finished part does not reset where the tube came from.
• The certification list is broad and the exclusions are narrow. In-scope tube is typically certified to ASTM/ASME A-512, A-513 Type 3 through Type 6, or A-519; to SAE J524, J525, J2833, J2614, J2467, J2435 or J2613; to AMS grades including 6736, 6371, 5050, 5062, 6360, 6361, 6362, 6374 and 6415; or to foreign equivalents such as DIN 2391-2/2393-2/2394-2, EN 10305-1/-2/-4/-6, JIS G 3441 and JIS G 3445. Excluded are cold-drawn stainless tube with at least 10.5% chromium and no more than 1.2% carbon, and products certified to a named list of pipe specifications – ASTM A-53, A-106, A-179, A-192, A-209, A-210, A-213, A-334, A-423, A-498, A-496, A-199, A-500, A-556, A-565, API 5L and API 5CT – unless also dual- or multiple-certified to an in-scope specification. Dual certification is the classic trap: tube certified to ASTM A-513 and to an excluded pipe standard stays in scope.

Steel in scope is defined simply: iron predominates by weight over each other element, and carbon content is 2% or less by weight. The merchandise is currently classified under HTSUS 7304.31.3000, 7304.31.6050, 7304.51.1000, 7304.51.5005, 7304.51.5060, 7306.30.5015, 7306.30.5020 and 7306.50.5030 – but the written scope description, not the tariff number, is dispositive.

What This Changes for Material, Process and Cost

Nothing here alters the mechanical properties of any tube grade, nor the machinability of any part. What changes is landed cost and documentation on the Italy-sourced portion of a tube programme:

• Company-level exposure. A 68.95% cash-deposit requirement on Dalmine-origin tube is a step change in working capital for the importer of record; where the producer is neither Dalmine nor a previously reviewed firm, the 47.87% all-others rate applies.
• Substitution pressure, and its own scope risk. Switching to an out-of-scope stainless or pipe-specification product changes mechanical performance, corrosion behaviour and weldability – a substitution that must be engineered, not merely purchased.
• Certification and documentation load. Because dual certification can pull a tube into scope, the mill certificate and the commercial documentation must be read together.
• Machining consequences are second-order. Where a shop re-sources tube, changes in wall thickness, concentricity, straightness, surface condition and condition of supply can shift turning and boring practice, tool life and the setups needed to hold bore concentricity in a cylinder barrel or rod assembly. Buyers converting tube to finished parts should also re-check lead time and delivery assumptions whenever the stock source changes.

A Short Verification Checklist

• Identify the drawing location for every tube line item. Ask the supplier where the tube was cold-drawn, not just where it was cut or machined.
• Match certificates against the scope lists. Check whether any excluded pipe specification appears on the mill certificate together with an in-scope one.
• Price on the rate actually collected. Model Dalmine-origin tube at 68.95% and other-origin tube at the applicable company-specific or 47.87% rate, and confirm the rate in effect at entry.
• File the reimbursement certificate. Importers must file under 19 CFR 351.402(f)(2) before liquidation; failure can trigger a presumption of reimbursement and double assessment.
• Review the India line in parallel. The same order covers tubing from India, whose 2024-2025 review reached preliminary results on September 3, 2026 (91 FR 56628). Read the two together with other steel trade actions, such as the proposed Section 232 derivative-article additions.

Limited Conclusions

What is established and dated: on September 16, 2026, Commerce published the final results of the 2024-2025 review of the antidumping duty order on cold-drawn mechanical tubing from Italy (91 FR 58656, A-475-838), assigning Dalmine S.p.A. a 68.95% weighted-average dumping margin based on adverse facts available after the company declined to participate, with the all-others rate at 47.87%.

The durable takeaway is structural rather than dramatic. For machined tube components, the country of origin follows the place of cold-drawing, and minor downstream operations – including the machining itself – do not change it. The mill certificate, the drawing location and the applicable cash-deposit rate therefore belong on the same page as the part drawing, keeping landed cost, certification and compliance decisions aligned whichever origin a buyer selects.

References

• Commerce, Enforcement & Compliance. “Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing of Carbon and Alloy Steel From Italy: Final Results of Antidumping Duty Administrative Review; 2024-2025.” Doc 2026-18921, 91 FR 58656, September 16, 2026 (applicable September 16, 2026; signed September 9, 2026). Retrieved September 16, 2026. federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/16/2026-18921
• Same notice, official full text (91 FR 58656): full text
• Commerce, Enforcement & Compliance. “Certain Cold Drawn Mechanical Tubing of Carbon and Alloy Steel From Italy: Preliminary Results…” Doc 2026-09689, 91 FR 27267, May 14, 2026 (68.95% preliminary margin). federalregister.gov/documents/2026/05/14/2026-09689
• Commerce, Enforcement & Compliance. “Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing… Antidumping Duty Orders.” Doc 2018-12593, 83 FR 26962, June 11, 2018 (scope text and 47.87% Italy all-others rate). federalregister.gov/documents/2018/06/11/2018-12593
• Commerce, Enforcement & Compliance. “Certain Cold-Drawn Mechanical Tubing… From India: Preliminary Results…” Doc 2026-18086, 91 FR 56628, September 3, 2026: 91 FR 56628

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