The US Department of Commerce said Tuesday that it has launched a probe into whether exporters in Taiwan and eight others in Asia, Europe and the Middle East are dumping steel pipes that are usually used in the oil and gas industry.

The DOC said five Taiwanese oil country tubular goods (OCTG) manufacturers have been accused by US steel producers of selling their pipes at unfairly low prices in the US market.

Others listed in the anti-dumping action are South Korea, India, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam, according to the department.

US steel producers filed an anti-dumping complaint with the DOC on July 2 against Taiwan and the aforementioned countries, and an anti-subsidy complaint against India and Turkey.

In Taipei, Chung Hung Steel Corp, one of the five Taiwanese steel product exporters accused of OCTG dumping, said it has hired defense lawyers in the US to handle the case, as have the other four Taiwanese companies listed in the suit.

Meanwhile, the US International Trade Commission, which is conducting a parallel investigation, held a hearing Tuesday on the dumping accusation against the exporters.

Representatives of two of the five Taiwanese firms attended the hearing, saying Taiwan's exporters are unlikely to harm US suppliers, as the volume of OCTG exports from Taiwan to the US has been limited.

According to the DOC, Taiwan's OCTG exports to the US totaled US$89.8 million last year, up from US$43.2 million in 2010, and US$80.8 million in 2011.

OCTG exports to the US market from the nine exporters reached nearly US$1.8 billion last year, more than double the total in 2010.

US steel makers have asked the DOC to impose anti-dumping tariffs of 68.44%-70.98% on Taiwan's OCTG exporters.

The trade commission is expected to issue a preliminary ruling Aug. 16 on whether exporters have harmed their US counterparts. If so, the DOC will issue an initial decision Dec. 9 to set anti-dumping tariffs against the exporters involved.