Steel Mills

JSW USA Sues Commerce Over Tariffs on Slabs

Written by Tim Triplett

August 6, 2019

JSW Steel (USA), Inc., is seeking relief from the Section 232 tariffs on the steel slabs it must import temporarily to supply its mill in Baytown, Texas. The U.S. arm of the India-based steel producer has filed a complaint against the U.S. alleging that the Commerce Department’s denial of JSW’s request for exclusion from the 25 percent tariff was “arbitrary and capricious” and violated the company’s right to due process.

JSW USA is in the process of installing a new electric arc furnace at its Baytown plant. It is also investing millions in upgrades at its mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio. In the meantime, it is reliant on imported slabs from India and Mexico, which it maintains are not available in a sufficient quantity or quality in the United States. As a result, the company contends it has paid tens of millions in tariffs from which it should have been exempted.

States JSW’s complaint: “The Department of Commerce ignored the record evidence establishing that the steel slab JSW USA imports is not presently available in the U.S. market, and instead issued the same boilerplate denial to each and every one of JSW USA’s exclusion requests. In denying JSW USA’s exclusion requests, the Department yielded to the objections of three competitive domestic steel producers…which filed thousands of objections to their domestic competitors’ exclusion requests. In their objections, the companies claimed, without any evidence, that they could supply at least 85 million metric tons of steel when (a) their total capacity is only 35 million metric tons and (b) they do not and cannot produce many of the types and sizes of products needed. In sustaining the domestic competitors’ objections, the Department undertook no effort to verify their claims, ignored the conclusive evidence that these companies are unable to produce the subject products in the required quality or quantity, and failed even to offer any reasoned basis for its decisions.”

JSW’s complaint seeks declaratory relief from the U.S. Court of International Trade and the refund of any tariffs paid.

Tim Triplett

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