These investigations are conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) and the USITC under the U.S. countervailing duty law, Title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. § 1671 et seq.), almost always on the basis of a petition filed with Commerce and the USITC on behalf of a domestic industry. If Commerce determines that the government of a country is providing a countervailable subsidy with respect to a class or kind of imported merchandise and the USITC determines that a U.S. industry is materially injured or threatened with material injury or that the establishment of any industry is materially retarded by reason of imports of such merchandise, Commerce will issue a countervailing duty order that imposes a countervailing duty on such imports in an amount equal to the subsidy.

For more information about Commerce's role, see http://trade.gov/ia/index.asp. For more information about the USITC's role, see this site's Import Injury section; for information about pending and completed investigations, see all AD-CVD cases.