SMU Data and Models
Borusan Mannesmann Loses Appeal on Section 232 Tariffs
March 17, 2023
The US Court of Appeals for The Federal Circuit has upheld Section 232 duties on steel tube and pipe from Turkey’s Borusan Mannesmann and its American subsidiary Borusan Mannesmann Pipe US.
In a March 15 ruling the court affirmed an earlier opinion by the US Court of International Trade.
Borusan had appealed the original decision, arguing that US import duties did not “encompass any duties imposed under Section 232,” the court opinion said. The pipe and tube maker did not want to pay the additional 25% duties under Section 232 as well as pre-existing antidumping duties.
In 2018, President Trump issued Proclamation 9705, “which separately imposed a duty on imported steel articles, (including Borusan’s carbon steel pipe) under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962,” the opinion said.
The court opinion states that Proclamation 9705 “makes clear that the duty newly being imposed was to add to, and not partly or wholly offset, the antidumping duties that would be due without the new duty.”
By Ethan Bernard, ethan@steelmarketupdate.com
Latest in SMU Data and Models
SMU Survey: Sheet lead times ease further, plate hits one-year high
Steel buyers responding to this week’s SMU market survey report a continued softening in sheet lead times. Meanwhile, plate lead times have moderately extended and are at a one-year high.
SMU Survey: Buyers report more price flexibility from mills
Nearly half of the steel buyers responding to this week’s SMU market survey say domestic mills are showing increased willingness to negotiate pricing on new spot orders. This marks a significant shift from the firmer stance mills held in prior weeks.
SMU Survey: Buyers’ Sentiment Indices fall
Current Sentiment Index dropped six points to +42 this week compared to two weeks earlier. It has fallen in every successive survey since reaching a 2025 high of +66 on Feb. 19.
March service center shipments and inventories report
Steel service center shipments and inventories report through March 2024.
Apparent steel supply contracts in February
The amount of finished steel that entered the US market in February receded from January’s peak, according to our analysis of Department of Commerce and American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) data.