Trade Cases
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/media/k2/items/src/1d45e33a3b01b0ac62537ca51bc78d37.jpg)
AISI Details Foreign Trade Barriers That Harm US Steel Producers
Written by Sandy Williams
October 31, 2016
AISI, Washington, D.C. (Oct. 27, 2016) – The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) today submitted comments to the Trade Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) on USTR’s 2017 National Trade Estimate Report (NTE) on Foreign Trade Barriers. This submission marks the fifth year in a row that AISI has documented the foreign trade barriers that distort global trade for the NTE and are extremely harmful to U.S. companies, particularly those in the steel industry in the United States.
The 60-page document, signed by Kevin Dempsey, AISI’s senior vice president of public policy & general counsel, identifies significant trade barriers and other trade-distorting practices that limit the competitiveness of major U.S. companies. The comments were submitted to TPSC, the inter-agency task force that will review these comments for compilation in the 2017 National Trade Estimate (NTE) report released by USTR. Link to AISI’s full comments to USTR can be found here.
“USTR should include the trade restrictions identified in this submission in its 2017 National Trade Estimate Report on Foreign Trade Barriers, and continue to work toward the elimination of these and other trade barriers worldwide” Dempsey wrote. The AISI comments highlighted:
Export Restrictions – Many countries have enacted substantial barriers to raw material exports in order to ensure an abundant domestic supply, at low prices, for their manufacturers. These export barriers include export quotas, export taxes, and export licensing requirements. Foreign governments use such restrictions to discourage exports of raw materials, promote the development of their domestic industries, and subsidize their domestic downstream industries. Many of the restrictions are inconsistent with World Trade Organization (WTO) agreements.
Import Barriers – Import-restricting policies in foreign countries, such as tariffs and other import charges, quantitative restrictions, import licensing, and customs barriers, can distort trade by protecting a country’s domestic producers from import competition, to the detriment of foreign producers. Import tariffs accomplish this by giving a price advantage to locally produced goods over similar imported goods. Restrictive and opaque or unpredictable import licensing systems can also be used as an obstacle to trade.
Investment Barriers – Restrictions on foreign investment and ownership often unfairly distort global trade and prevent U.S. businesses from taking advantage of potentially lucrative investment opportunities. While the United States maintains a relatively open environment for foreign investors, many other countries continue to impose restrictions on foreign investment within their borders, to the disadvantage of U.S. companies.
Subsidies – Many foreign governments – including in particular China – provide their domestic steel industries with various forms of subsidies, including prohibited export subsidies, giving those industries an unfair advantage in international competition and creating a significant trade barrier for U.S. companies operating globally. Indeed, many subsidies have the consequence of protecting domestic products from foreign competition or artificially stimulating exports of a particular domestic product, thereby displacing U.S. exports in global markets. In addition, heavily subsidized producers introduce market-distorting behavior and other trade and investment imbalances to the global economy.
State Owned Enterprises and Government Intervention – Foreign governments are increasingly using state owned enterprises (SOEs) and other methods of government intervention to unfairly tilt the playing field, both within a country’s borders and in global markets. China, in particular, has created massive state-owned and -controlled national champions that are designed to be competitive on the international stage, and other countries are following suit. The rise in SOEs represents a growing threat to fair trade and the ability of private steel producers to compete globally. SOE investment at home and abroad forces companies to compete directly against foreign governments in markets around the world, creating significant imbalances that harm workers and private companies competing in those markets. These distortions impact U.S. and global steel markets and related upstream and downstream markets, as well as other global industries.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/sandy-williams.jpeg)
Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Trade Cases
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/galvanized_coil.png)
Leibowitz: The consequences of a new barrage of trade cases on coated steel
Domestic steel producers and the United Steelworkers (USW) union filed a barrage of trade cases last week. This is hardly news. Ever since the Commerce Department ruled that Vietnam is still treated as a nonmarket economy (NME) for antidumping purposes, many in the business expected new cases on the product that Vietnam excels at—“corrosion-resistant steel.” Nor is it a surprise that these cases roped in nine countries in addition to Vietnam: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. All these countries rank in the top ten exporters of corrosion-resistant steel to the United States. These petitions are a broadside against coated flat-rolled steel imports.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/investigate.png)
Coated trade case alleges hefty dumping margins
Domestic mills have alleged substantial dumping margins in the trade case targeting imports of corrosion-resistant steel.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/fist.png)
US mills file sprawling trade case against coated imports from 10 nations
US mills have filed or soon will file a sprawling trade petition against imports of coated flat-rolled steel from 10 countries. The petition seeks anti-dumping margins against Canada, Mexico, Brazil, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Taiwan, Australia, and South Africa. It also seeks countervailing duty margins against Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and Vietnam. That’s according documents dated Sept. 5 and addressed to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and International Trade Commission (ITC) Secretary Lisa Barton.
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/media/k2/items/src/cbd2ad03f626e665deb71b2742b25bbb.jpg)
Steel Summit 2024: Trade issues abound ahead of election
Trade is always front and center in an election year. And 2024 is no different. There is no shortage of issues, with questions like the sale of U.S. Steel to Japan’s Nippon Steel, potential cracks in the USMCA, and Chinese overcapacity dominating the headlines. But how do you distinguish between issues that might just last until November, and what are the crucial questions that could affect your business for years to come?
![](https://www.steelmarketupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/images/Featured_News_Icons/fist.png)
US senators urge reduction to S. Korean OCTG quota
https://www.brown.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/sherrod-brown-casey-fetterman-biden-administration-level-playing-field-american-octg-industry