Mexico Extends Steel Pipe Duties on US Imports FiveYears

Mexico's Ministry of Economy has extended antidumping duties on US carbon steel pipe imports for five additional years from May 2025. The move maintains rates between 4.04% and 25.43% on key exporters including Berg Europipe Holding Corporation and Oregon Steel Mills, while a 6.77% general rate applies across all US suppliers. The renewal, the fourth consecutive since the measures were first imposed in 2005, reinforces trade protection for domestic manufacturer Tubacero amid escalating bilateral steel tensions, US Section 232 tariffs at 50%, and active USMCA renegotiations, with direct implications for hydrocarbon pipeline procurement and infrastructure project costs in Mexico.

Mexico's Ministry of Economy has extended antidumping duties on straight longitudinal seam carbon steel pipe imports from the United States for another five years, effective May 28, 2025. The resolution concludes the sunset review process initiated on May 21, 2025, and keeps in place measures that have been active without interruption since 2005. The measure marks two decades of continuous trade protection for domestic producers of a product central to Mexico's hydrocarbon and infrastructure sectors.

The extended duties are differentiated by exporter. Berg Steel Pipe Corporation, now operating as Berg Europipe Holding Corporation, faces a rate of 4.04%. Oregon Steel Mills and all other US exporters are subject to a rate of 25.43%. A blended general rate of 6.77% applies across the board. Enforcement authority falls to the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, which will administer the duties across all Mexican customs territory. The resolution officially took effect June 25, 2026.

Two Decades of Uninterrupted Protection

The antidumping duties on straight longitudinal seam carbon steel pipe from the US were first established on May 27, 2005, following an investigation into pricing practices by US exporters. Since then, the Ministry of Economy has conducted three sunset reviews, in 2011, 2016, and 2021, and in each case determined that lifting the measures would risk a recurrence of the dumping conditions that originally justified them. The 2025 review follows the same trajectory.

The current review was triggered by Tubacero, a Monterrey-based manufacturer of high-quality carbon steel pipes with diameters ranging from 6 5/8 to 150 inches. On March 31, 2025, Tubacero formally notified the Ministry of Economy of its interest in initiating the sunset review before the measures' scheduled expiration on May 27, 2025. The company argued that without the duties, conditions favorable to resumed dumping would likely return.

Tubacero's standing as a domestic producer was verified through documentation submitted to the Ministry and endorsed by CANACERO. The review period covered March 1, 2024, to February 28, 2025, with an analysis window extending back to March 2020.

Product Scope and Tariff Classification

The product covered by the duties is carbon steel pipe with straight longitudinal seam and outer diameters exceeding 16 inches and up to 48 inches. These pipes are classified under tariff codes 7305.11.02 and 7305.12.91 of the General Law on Import and Export Taxes (TIGIE) and are used primarily in hydrocarbon pipeline infrastructure, oil and gas transmission, as well as water and industrial fluid transport.

The Ministry noted that importers are not required to pay the antidumping duties if they can demonstrate that the merchandise did not originate in the United States, in line with existing rules for non-preferential origin certification.

Broader Trade Context

The extension arrives against a backdrop of rising trade friction between Mexico and the United States across the steel sector. In February 2026, Mexico's Ministry of Economy launched a new antidumping investigation into cold-rolled steel imports from the United States, Malaysia, and China, adding to a growing list of active trade remedy proceedings.

In June 2025, the United States increased its Section 232 steel tariffs to 50% for all countries, a move that further complicated bilateral steel trade flows and raised questions about the durability of USMCA commitments in the sector.

Mexico's antidumping measure on carbon steel pipe with straight longitudinal seam has been in place since May 17, 2005, with duties on US producers and exporters ranging from 4.04% to 25.43%. The US Department of Commerce's Office of Trade Remedy Compliance has monitored the review process, as the duties directly affect US pipe manufacturers seeking access to the Mexican market.

For Mexican domestic producers, the extension reinforces a framework that has allowed companies like Tubacero to maintain competitive ground against lower-priced US imports. Tubacero has emphasized that its manufacturing model, including the use of 80-foot pipes welded with automated machinery to reduce joint failure risk, positions it as a quality-differentiated supplier, but the company has consistently maintained that the pricing differential from US competitors without antidumping duties would be difficult to absorb.