Fails to provide relief from subsidized product from Canada, China, and Mexico
Washington. The Coalition for a Prosperous America (CPA) today stated its disapproval of the U.S. International Trade Commission’s (ITC) decision not to impose new duties on dumped and subsidized fabricated structural steel imports from Canada, China, and Mexico. U.S. producers of fabricated steel, including CPA members, believe such unfairly traded imports are harming domestic industry. Earlier this year, the Department of Commerce (DOC) confirmed that Canadian, Chinese, and Mexican product is being sold in the U.S. at dumped and subsidized prices. However, the new ITC determination means that duties on these imports will not be imposed.
“The ITC’s decision is inexcusable,” said CPA Chair Dan DiMicco. “The Commerce Department has already confirmed that unfairly subsidized steel product is coming in from Canada, Mexico, and China. Based on their findings, the administration should now include fabricated steel in its Section 232 program, and should double the tariffs on fabricated steel imports from China. Similar action should be taken regarding Mexico’s dumping of steel—something that should be addressed through the USMCA agreement.”
In January, the DOC issued a preliminary affirmative ruling in its antidumping and countervailing duty probes that found fabricated structural steel imports being dumped at margins as high as 6.70 percent from Canada, 154.14 percent from China, and 30.58 percent from Mexico. Commerce also determined that producers in China received countervailable subsidies as high as 206.49 percent, with manufacturers in Mexico receiving subsidies as high as 68.87 percent. Fabricated metal product manufacturing in the United States currently employs nearly 1.5 million Americans.
“Fabricated structural steel is a key part of construction projects throughout the United States, and there are many thousands of U.S. households whose livelihoods are tied to that industry,” said Michael Stumo, CEO of the CPA. “Those jobs are now at risk from blatant dumping by America’s trade competitors. Washington should be working to save this important industry. Turning a blind eye to such trade cheating does nothing to help America’s future economic and industrial security.”
CPA has supported the Trump administration’s tariffs on raw steel imports. Read more about how these tariffs are invigorating America’s steelmaking industry.
