The global steel market has been flooded recently. The US has been struggling to compete in this market as US companies lose out to competitors who can afford to underprice.
According to the United Steelworkers (USW), steelworkers and iron ore miners have been significantly affected by surging imports of hot-rolled, cold-rolled and corrosion-resistant flat steel products that are all in the final stages of separate trade case enforcement actions.
Idled facilities have resulted in more than 19,000 ongoing layoffs in the steel sector states. The USW points out the Granite City steel works of US Steel Corp. in Illinois has been idled since 2015, laying off 2,000 steelworkers along with miners on Minnesota’s iron range.
Affected steel states include Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Alabama and Kentucky.
Some companies have even begun whistleblowing against foreign companies that they feel are guilty of dumping and/or countervailing hot-rolled steel in the US market. Most recently, the US Department of Commerce (USDOC) has made a final determination on August 5th concerning these accusations.
Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey and the United Kingdom have all been charged for violating international trade laws by improperly subsidizing their steel producers and dumping hot-rolled steel into the US market at below market prices.
According to the USDOC fact sheet, the final determination on anti-dumping (AD) and countervailing (CVD) duties for hot-rolled steel exports by producers in each country are as follows:
- Australia – 29.37 percent (AD)
- Brazil – 33.14 to 34.28 percent (AD); 11.09 to 11.30 percent (CVD)
- Japan – 4.99 to 7.51 percent (AD)
- Korea – 3.89 to 9.49 percent (AD); 3.89 to 57.04 percent (CVD)
- Netherlands – 3.73 percent (AD)
- Turkey – 3.66 to 7.15 percent (AD); 0.34 (de minimis) to 6.01 (CVD)
- United Kingdom – 33.06 percent (AD)
The USW recently made a statement to their union members at 16 steel facilities today that they agreed with the determination made by the USDOC.
“The Commerce Department’s final ruling was anxiously awaited by steelworkers and steel companies for the past year of the investigation,” said USW international president, Leo W. Gerard. “It levels the playing field with imports to provide fair and sustainable market prices for American steel, a critical step in restoring balance to the market.”
Although not included the list above, Gerard points out similar behavior in China, who is under investigation for dumping and countervailing products like stainless steel and amorphous silica fibers.
“The hot-rolled steel trade case and others like it are vital to saving steel jobs and our communities, but they’re only part of the solution. Chinese excess steel overcapacity is causing terrible injury world-wide and remains a long-term threat,” Gerard said.
USW international VP Tom Conway appeared confident that commissioners will pass an affirmative ruling on the accused nations listed above. Conway testified at a previous trade commission hearing, emphasizing the enforcement action by the US comes down to national and economic security.
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) final injury determination for hot-rolled steel must be made by Sept. 19, 2016. The duties announced will remain in place for five years for imports from the seven countries.
For more information, visit www.usw.org.