Steel Mills

Mario Longhi Comments on OCTG Final Determination Ruling

July 13, 2014

US Steel has been one of the leaders in the push to prevent foreign oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from being unfairly traded here in the United States. US Steel recently closed two of their OCTG manufacturing facilities. One of the main reasons provided by US Steel was the flood of OCTG imports from countries like South Korea.

The US Department of Commerce released their final determination on the anti-dumping and countervailing duty trade cases on oil country tubular goods (OCTG). There were some adjustments, both in favor of the domestic steel industry and against the steel mills and domestic OCTG producers. The net result is still in question as we will have to wait and see if the duties charged change the exports of OCTG out of any of the nine countries listed in the complaint. Here is the statement made by Mario Longhi, President and CEO of US Steel about the US DOC final determination findings:

PITTSBURGH, July 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Today United States Steel Corporation (NYSE: X) President and CEO Mario Longhi issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Commerce’s final determination in a trade case on Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) against nine countries including South Korea. The Company, the largest integrated producer of tubular products headquartered in the United States, was a petitioner in the case.

Longhi’s statement follows:

“United States Steel Corporation is pleased with the U.S. Department of Commerce’s final decision finding significant unfair trade margins against the vast majority of subject imports, including South Korea, for the dumping and subsidization of Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) into the American market.

“The Department of Commerce’s intensive investigation and final decision shows that the dumping of OCTG transpired through unfair methods and market distorting pricing which caused material harm to the American market. As a result of rising imports, United States Steel has suffered mightily – orders have been reduced, mills have been idled and jobs have been lost. Our only recourse against such actions was with the U.S. Department of Commerce and their ability to support the rule of law and create a level playing field for American manufacturing. We applaud their decision to prevent further gamesmanship of our laws and to secure our nation’s economy. We are also deeply grateful for our strong partnership with the United Steelworkers.

“This affirmative decision allows the case to move forward to the International Trade Commission hearing on July 15 where U. S. Steel and other petitioners will argue that the domestic OCTG industry is materially injured or threatened with material injury by reason of dumped and subsidized imports from companies in nine foreign countries.”

United States Steel Corporation, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., is a leading integrated steel producer and Fortune 200 company with major production operations in the United States, Canada and Central Europe and an annual raw steelmaking capability of 27 million net tons. The company manufactures a wide range of value-added steel sheet and tubular products. For more information about U. S. Steel, please visit www.USSteel.com.

Source: United States Steel Corporation