Trade panel slaps tariff sanctions on seven nations
Trade panel slaps tariff sanctions on seven nations
Associated Press, Washington
A federal trade panel found Brazil, Canada, Indonesia, Mexico, Moldova, Trinidad and Ukraine guilty Wednesday of dumping carbon steel rod imports on the United States, and slapped them with tariff sanctions of up to 369 percent for five years.
The ruling by the U.S. International Trade Commission drew applause from domestic steel rod producers, but howls of protest from businesses that use steel rod to manufacture wire and now predict they will have to pay even higher prices.
The new duties on steel rod imports from the seven nations comes on top of similar tariffs imposed in 2000 by President Bill Clinton's administration.
The Bush administration also sent a stern message to foreign producers with three-year tariffs on certain kinds of steel in March.
The ITC also ruled that tariffs against Germany were unwarranted because that nation contributes less than 3 percent of the total amount of steel rod imports. "Dumping" means that imports are illegally sold at less than fair market value in the United States.
"We're obviously pleased," said Thomas Danjczek, president of the Steel Manufacturers Association in Washington. "The wire rod industry has been injured, and the earlier tariffs had a diminutive impact."
The SMA represents the four domestic "mini-mill" steel rod producers that brought the case to the ITC. Those plants are: Co- Steel Raritan, Inc. of Perth Amboy, New Jersey; GS Industries of Charlotte, North Carolina; Keystone Consolidated Industries, Inc. of Dallas; and Northstar Steel Texas, Inc. of Edina, Minnesota.
But steel rod users said the handful of domestic mini-mills would be unable to produce enough steel rod to satisfy the demand.
Moreover, they said, the small businesses nationwide that make wire out of the steel rod - and, in turn, products such as nails, fences, and bolts - would be unable to afford the prices for imports that the tariffs will surely prompt.
"It's devastating," said Kim Korbel, executive director for the Virginia-based American Wire Producers Association. "There's nothing that can be done about these for five years. Half the industry could go into bankruptcy, and it wouldn't matter."
In Pennsylvania, Walt Robertson said his company, Johnstown Wire Technologies, had used steel rod from two domestic producers until both went out of business. He now buys rod mostly from Canada and Europe - and isn't sure whether his company will be able to turn a profit because of the tariffs.
"It's not a pretty picture," said Robertson, whose company used the rod to make wire that is used in car seat belts and other auto safety parts. "It's a matter of profitability and viability. It's a struggle."