Steelmakers, including US Steel Corp and Nucor Corp, filed a trade complaint alleging that imports of corrosion-resistant metal from China and four other countries are being sold in the US at unfairly low prices.
The suit also cites imports from Taiwan, India, Italy and South Korea, according to a petition filed on Wednesday with federal regulators by US Steel, Nucor, Steel Dynamics Inc, AK Steel Holding Corp and ArcelorMittal.
As domestic mills struggle in the marketplace, US producers are also seeking help in the US Congress.
A bill that would require regulators to consider reduced market share, idled capacity and nine other factors when weighing unfair trade complaints has been approved by the US Senate.
It is backed by US President Barack Obama and US Representative Paul Ryan, the Republican chairman of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade issues.
“Now it’s looking highly likely that this reform that they’ve been pushing for years will finally be passed,” Caitlin Webber, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, said in an interview. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they got Congress and the president on board with their provision and it’s just now that they’re filing.”
Steel coated with zinc or aluminum to prevent rust from those countries represented 67 percent of imports to the US last year, according to the complaint.
That year, the US imported 4.1 million tonnes of corrosion-resistant steel, out of domestic consumption of 20.8 million tonnes.
The price of hot-rolled steel coil, which is processed into other steel products or used in appliances and building, has tumbled by 33 percent in the last 12 months as imports have surged, claiming 34 percent of the 117.6 million ton US market last year.
The US Department of Commerce and U.S. International Trade Commission will hear the complaint.
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