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ARA Updates
Industry news from the national association
Recyclers News Press
Page 15
Six Steelmakers File Complaint with
U.S. International Trade Commission;
Seek Punitive Tariffs on Imported Steel
As reported earlier this month in the Wall Street Jour-
nal, six steelmakers have filed a trade complaint al-
leging unfair pricing of imported steel from China, In-
dia, Italy, South Korea and Taiwan. The steelmakers,
United States Steel, Nucor, Steel Dynamics, Arce-
lorMittal, AK Steel and California Steel Industries, all
have substantial U.S. operations and are seeking pu-
nitive tariffs as part of the suit concerning a kind of
coated steel used in the automotive industry.
Steel prices in the United States are down about 25
percent since the start of the year, resulting in thou-
sands of layoffs around the country, and leading the
six steelmakers to file this complaint with the United
States International Trade Commission. The
steelmakers are alleging that record numbers of im-
ported steel, particularly from China, has led them to
export excess capacity and devastated pricing in the
U.S. market. They also allege that foreign-produced
steel benefits from unfair help from home govern-
ments. Exports of steel from China rose 36 percent to
30.4 million tons during the first four months of 2015.
The companies are also expected to argue that cur-
rencies have been intentionally depreciated relative to
the dollar. They must prove that foreign companies
sold their steel at below-market prices or benefited
from illegal state aid-tactics that allowed them to take
market share away from domestic steelmakers.
Last year the U.S. levied duties on imports of steel
used in the energy industry, however those fees have
not stemmed the tide of shipments. The European
Commission as recently as last month also passed
tariffs on the import of a grain-oriented electrical steel
from China, Russia, the U.S., Japan and South Ko-
rea. The United States International Trade Commis-
sion has 45 days to decide whether the six steelmak-
ers have been sufficiently “injured” to merit punitive
tariffs. The Department of Commerce will also issue a
preliminary ruling by the end of 2015. Final rulings by
both agencies are due by mid-2016.