ITC rules on hot-rolled steel import investigation

The U.S. International Trade Commission determined that imports of hot-rolled steel from Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom unfairly harm domestic producers.    The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) on Monday determined that imports of hot-rolled steel from Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom unfairly harm domestic producers and that these products in the case of Turkey are sold in the United States at less than fair value.
   However, while the ITC agreed with an initial determination by the Commerce Department that the Brazilian and South Korean governments are subsidizing their hot-rolled steel exports, the commission found that the Turkish government’s subsidies to this industry are negligible.
   As a result of the ITC’s affirmative determinations, Commerce will now issue countervailing duty orders on imports of hot-rolled steel products from Brazil and South Korea and antidumping duty orders on these imports from Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey and the United Kingdom. No countervailing duty order, however, will be issued on these imports from Turkey, the ITC said.
   The petitioners for these investigations included AK Steel Corp. of Ohio, ArcelorMittal USA in Illinois, Nucor Corp. of North Carolina, SSAB Enterprises in Illinois, Steel Dynamics of Indiana, and U.S. Steel Corp. in Pennsylvania.
   In 2015, Commerce estimated that imports of certain hot-rolled steel from South Korea totaled $649.5 million, followed by Japan at $314.7 million, Brazil at $252.6 million, the Netherlands at $208.4 million, the United Kingdom at $197.1 million, Turkey at $181.7 million and Australia at $122.5 million.