Stakeholders in the US steel market on Wednesday argued for tailored trade actions -- some excluding certain products and countries -- if the US Department of Commerce moves forward with trade remedies after it concludes its steel Section 232 investigation.
At the Commerce hearing, Secretary Wilbur Ross said he was hopeful that Commerce would complete the report on steel imports' effect of US national security under Section 232 investigation under the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 by the end of June -- much sooner than the 270-day timeline allowed by law. The president will then decide whether to implement Commerce's recommendation.
"Does the problem rise to the level of crisis sufficient to warrant action beyond existing countervailing duty, antidumping duty cases? If the president does decide to take action, should it cover all steel from everywhere?" Ross asked. "Are there products or countries that should be excluded? Is there some more innovated solution?"
Tim Timken, CEO of TimkenSteel, said there's no "one-size-fits-all remedy" to address unfair steel trade.
"With hundreds of steel products across multiple countries, the remedy must be flexible enough to address the complex nature of global steel trade. We recommend assessing all the tools in the remedy toolbox including tariffs, quotas and VRAs and more and in some instances a combination of remedies may be necessary," Timken said.
Several US mills were among the 37 speakers at the hearing, and they also made the case for a broader definition of national security to include US infrastructure -- bridges, airports, waterways, pipelines and the electrical grid -- as well as economic security.
John Brett, CEO of ArcelorMittal USA, also said the US must work to address global steel overcapacity, particularly in China.
"The United States must address the problem of global excess steelmaking capacity or every action you or we take won't matter," Brett said.
Mark Millett, CEO of Steel Dynamics, said the US and the world must work to stop subsidized and dumped Chinese steel exports to push China to cut capacity and end the game of import whack-a-mole.
"This is why SDI favors quotas at the 2010 or 2011 level volume of imports," Millett said.
US manufacturers who rely on imported tin plate for canning; tin mill black plate; tire cord-quality wire rod; high-quality, safety-critical Japanese wire rod; light gauge sheet; and sheet imports on the US West Coast also testified, asking Commerce for an exclusion for certain imported products.
Tracey Norberg, senior VP and general counsel of the US Tire Manufacturers Association, said rubber tires are critical to US national security in civilian and military applications, and the US steel industry cannot meet the demand of the tire industry to make tire-quality wire rod.
Millett agreed that there are products that are not manufactured in the US and can be imported, which is partly a consequence of lost US steel industry production over the years.
"I would tell you they're a very, very small volume. They are easily identifiable and can be separated from the rest of the products and should not be the basis of any broad policy," Millett said.
Joel Johnson, CEO of Borusan Mannesmann Pipe US, asked Commerce to take into account foreign-owned companies that have made investments to manufacture in the US. Johnson said BMP's plant plans to make more than 200,000 st of oil country tubular goods at its Baytown, Texas, mill, but it plans to continue to import certain sizes of pipe.
Representatives from foreign governments also testified.
Alexander Zhmykhov, deputy head of Economic Section, Trade Representation of the Russian Federation in the USA, warned against trade remedies that would be "redundant and potentially conflicting" with duties already imposed on Russian steel products.
Leo Gerard, international president of the United Steelworkers, requested Canada be excluded from Commerce's prescribed remedy.
