US-China relations have been in the news for at least the last five years. Cabinet officials are traveling to China, Chinese leaders are coming to the US, books are coming out and the European Union is dealing with the same quandary: should China be further isolated? Is the West too dependent on China? As I […]
US Trade Representative Katherine Tai met on Thursday in Cancun, Mexico, with Mexico’s Secretary of Economy, Raquel Buenrostro, where the two discussed confronting steel imports, among other issues. In a press release, the USTR said she spoke with Secretary Buenrostro regarding “the importance of addressing the recent surge of imports of steel and aluminum products, and […]
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) said Wednesday it is conducting a fact-finding investigation to assess the greenhouse gas (GHG) intensity of steel and aluminum made in the US. This is in response to a letter sent by US Trade Representative Katherine Tai on June 5 requesting a Section 332 investigation in the midst of ongoing […]
Raw steel production by US mills moved higher again last week, gaining ground for the second straight week, according to data released by the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) on Monday, June 26. Domestic production stood at 1,758,000 net tons during the week ended June 24, up 0.9% from 1,743,000 tons the previous week. Production is […]
Our latest survey results indicate that the round of $50/ton ($2.50/cwt) sheet price hikes have a good chance of at least stabilizing prices or increasing them modestly. To be clear, SMU does not make formal forecasts. I’m basing this on what we’re seeing in past survey results following price hikes compared to what we’re seeing […]
US rig counts dropped for the week ended June 23, while Canada’s count increased, according to the latest data from oilfield services company Baker Hughes. This marks the eighth consecutive week-over-week decline in the US and fifth consecutive weekly increase in Canada. The total US rig count stood at 682 active rigs as of June 23, off five from the […]
The US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) is updating the antidumping duties on carbon and alloy cut-to-length steel plate imported from Belgium. In an administrative review of the AD duties, the ITA is considering the one-year period ended April 30, 2022. In its preliminary ruling, the agency set the weighted-average dumping margin at […]
The Biden administration over the last few months has articulated the need for a new global economic order. But to date, there is little in the way of ideas for implanting that order. Mostly, Katherine Tai, the US Trade Representative and Jake Sullivan, the National Security Advisor, have spoken about what’s wrong with the economic […]
A bipartisan group of 36 members of Congress have expressed their concerns over potential tariffs on tin mill steel products. In a letter to the US International Trade Commission and Department of Commerce on June 12, the group said that the antidumping investigation on tin mill products brought forth by Cleveland-Cliffs earlier this year can […]
The US Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration (ITA) is updating the antidumping duties on hot-rolled steel flats from South Korea. In an administrative review of the one-year period ended Sept. 30, 2022, the ITA set preliminary dumping margins of 0% for Hyundai Steel, Posco, and 45 other Korean companies not selected for individual examination. […]
The US and European Union are working on an agreement dealing with carbon emissions in the steel industry. The impact on bilateral trade could be high. In 2021, the US and EU agreed that the US would suspend the 25% Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum, and the EU would drop its World Trade […]
Bipartisan legislation was introduced in Congress on Wednesday to level the playing field for American workers. The Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0 would enhance US trade remedy laws to protect American workers and “combat China’s unfair, anti-free market trade practices that distort the global market,” according to a release from Rep. Bill Johnson (R-Ohio). […]
The US Department of Commerce issued the final results of its expedited sunset review of antidumping (AD) duties on steel plate from three Asian countries. The agency found that allowing the duties to expire would result in the continuation of dumping at significant rates. This is the fourth sunset review of the AD duties on […]
The debt ceiling deal passed by Congress has averted either an economic catastrophe or a minor headache, depending on who you talk to. It’s more likely that a pretty serious catastrophe was averted. But there was, in my view, never a serious chance that the US would default on its sovereign debt. More likely, some […]
The US and EU affirmed their intention to reach a common framework on carbon emissions in steel and aluminum by October at the Trade and Technology Council (TTC) meeting in Luleå, Sweden, on Wednesday. At the meeting the EU and US said that via the Transatlantic Initiative for Sustainable Trade they are “strengthening engagement towards […]
The US will extend for another year an exemption for Ukrainian steel from Section 232 tariffs. “The United States has provided a much-needed market for the steel that Ukraine is able to export,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said in statement on Wednesday, May 31. “In doing so, Americans are directly supporting the people of Ukraine, […]
Two separate developments suggest that the Biden administration may have concerns that more tariffs would damage the US economy by harming consumers. First, we saw the president suspend action to impose additional tariffs on solar cells and modules from four countries in the face of an antidumping “circumvention” proceeding. Circumvention determines whether operations in third […]
Since 1997, the US Department of Commerce has had a regulation permitting an “expedited review” of subsidy determinations in countervailing duty investigations. The importers of subject merchandise in these cases are often denied individual subsidy rates because Commerce lacks the resources to investigate every company. To compensate for the department’s insufficient resources, any company not […]
The Congressional Steel Caucus (CSC) has urged the US Department of Commerce and the US Trade Representative to take action to address what it calls a “surge of Mexican steel imports” into the US. The CSC claims the imports are in violation of the US and Mexican 2019 Joint Statement on Section 232 Duties on Steel and Aluminum, […]
Import duties on welded pipe and tube from a handful of countries are likely to remain in place for another five years, pending final injury determinations in two sunset reviews. The US Department of Commerce recently completed two expedited sunset review cases: one of antidumping duties on welded carbon steel pipe and tube from India, […]
We have a few confrontations this week. President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy are scheduled to meet this week on resolving the debt ceiling confrontation. Some sort of compromise seems likely, but a cataclysm involving government default is hardly out of the question. The time for agreement is nigh—US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has moved […]
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan recently gave an important speech on the direction of trade policy. It was not his speech alone, but part of a coordinated roll-out of the Biden administration on trade policy, including contributions from President Biden, US Trade Representative Katherine Tai, and US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. It’s worth looking at […]
US plate producers are seeking to have the suspension agreement on Russian plate imports tossed and to be replaced with antidumping duties (AD). Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs, and SSAB have asked the US Department of Commerce to terminate the AD suspension agreement on carbon steel plate from Russia. The producers say that the agreement is no longer […]
The United States and European Union are quarrelling about several trade issues. None is more far-reaching than the trade impact of measures to address climate change. While some still doubt the need or ability of the world’s nations to tax or subsidize their way out of human-caused global warming, governments, at least in Europe and […]
The spread between hot-rolled coil (HRC) and prime scrap prices has widened again in April from March, though much smaller than last month’s number, according to Steel Market Update data. Both SMU’s hot-rolled coil price average and busheling prices dropped this week. Our hot-rolled coil average slipped $15 per ton week-over-week to $1,145 per ton ($57.25 per cwt) as […]
Cleveland-Cliffs said Friday it has closed its previously announced offering of $750 million in unsecured guaranteed notes. The Cleveland-based steelmaker made the announcement on April 11 for the notes due in 2030, which were priced at 6.75% annual coupon and issued at par. The company said it intends to use the net proceeds from the […]
This pre-holiday steel market feels a little like the one before Thanksgiving – albeit at approximately double the price. Back in November, hot-rolled coil prices had crashed to around $600 per ton ($30 per cwt), and there were questions about whether and when mills might push to increase prices to more sustainable levels. Now, HR […]
US Steel said its new electrical steel product, InduX™, will start production this summer at the company’s Big River Steel facility in Osceola, Ark. The Pittsburgh-based steelmaker will be commissioning its new non-grain oriented (NGO) electrical steel line at that time. When fully operational, it will produce up to 200,000 tons of InduX steel per […]
I referred to the fast-paced mill price increase announcements for HR back on March 9. The HR spot index had just moved up over $100 per short ton (ST) from the prior week to set the monthly contract price at $1,017/ST. HR spot indexes have continued to move higher albeit at a slower pace. Hot Rolled […]
Commercial Metals Co. (CMC) said it has acquired post-tension cable company Tendon Systems LLC. Suwanee, Ga.-based Tendon supplies post-tensioning, barrier cable, and concrete restoration solutions in the southeastern US. CMC said Tendon’s products are used in a variety of construction projects including multi-family residential, parking structures, industrial, and high-rise buildings. The company had revenues of […]