Protecting the American steel industry is the stated purpose of a pair of rulings handed down last week by the U.S. International Trade Commission. Another one is scheduled to be released Tuesday.
China will be sanctioned for what the trade authority says is dumping. In separate citations it writes that cold-rolled and anti-corrosion steel products were sold in the United States at less than fair value and were subsidized by the government of China. And that the U.S. Steel industry was materially injured.
Domestic industry advocates like Scott Paul, president of the Alliance of American Manufacturing, have long pointed to dumping as a cause of steel plant closing and layoffs. He applauds the regulatory moves, but cautions that they are not quick fixes. “There’s not a guarantee that there are going to be jobs coming back, but the relief is one of the necessary ingredients. It actually does give them a fighting chance, whereas before, they had no chance at all. “
Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Italy are also named in one or more recent International Trade Commission dumping rulings.
