By Arul Louis

New York, Jul 24 (IANS): In its intensifying trade dispute with India, the United States Commerce Department has said that India and China are subsidising their carbon and alloy steel threaded rod exports and could face retaliatory action.

The Department announced on Tuesday that its countervailing duty (CVD) investigations had made a preliminary determination that Indian exporters of the product received subsidies ranging from 6.07 per cent to 155.03 per cent.

The Department said it would announce the final determination around December 4 and if it is positive the US International Trade Commission will determine the injury to US industry in January. If both these are positive, then the Department can go ahead with imposing CVD, it said.

The preliminary findings were mainly against two companies, Mangal Steel Enterprises Ltd. and Daksh Fasteners, which received subsidies of 6.07 per cent and 155.03 per cent respectively.

Last year, the US imported carbon and alloy steel threaded rod worth $35.8 million from India, the Department said.