The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday, Feb. 14, edition that the United States Commerce Department is considering punitive duties on pipeline material from a half-dozen countries, including Canada. A Canadian Press dispatch to The Globe reports that the duties being sought for large-diameter welded pipe from Canada are more than 50 per cent. Canada supplies about $66-million (U.S.) of pipe annually to the U.S. for use in oil and gas pipelines. The allegation from U.S. private industry is that foreign rivals from Canada, China, India, Greece, South Korea and Turkey use dumped product. The U.S. Department of Commerce is now weighing the case and could make final determinations on anti-dumping and countervailing duties in July and September. That is if the U.S. International Trade Commission finds in March that the case has enough merit to proceed. In a news release Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross saluted the 81-per-cent increase in trade cases initiated this year. Canada has responded with a legal shot of its own: It is targeting the entire U.S. system for imposing duties, in a case at the WTO that has infuriated the U.S. and could have major global implications.