The US Trade Representative (USTR) sent the letter of initiation of a comprehensive
Section 201 for the steel industry to the International Trade Commission
(ITC). The request for an investigation under Section 201 of the Trade
Act of 1974 is part of President Bush's comprehensive steel policy initiative.
The President's three-part program 1) directed the USTR to request a Section
201 investigation of steel products; 2) directed the USTR, together with
the Secretary of Commerce and the Secretary of the Treasury, to negotiate
with other steel producing nations to obtain the near-term elimination
of inefficient excess capacity in the global steel industry; and 3) called
for negotiations to establish additional disciplines on subsidies and other
market-distorting practices that affect the global steel industry.
AWPA did not endorse the initiation of a Section 201. However, when
it was clear there would be such an investigation, the association requested
that wire and wire products be included. While the Administration did not
include all wire and wire products, the following will be part of the investigation:
- carbon & alloy wire
- stainless wire
- carbon wire rope and strand
- stainless wire rope and strand
- nail and staples (excluding thumb tacks)
- woven wire fabric
The products that will not be included are:
- barbed wire
- bail ties & bailing wire
- chains
- garment hangers
- grill, netting & fencing
AWPA was also successful in its request that the Administration not
include carbon wire rod due to the existing 201 remedies on wire rod ?
the Tariff Rate Quota (TRQ) program. Additionally, the rod products that
were excluded from the original rod Section 201 will be excluded from this
case. Unfortunately, despite the existing dumping orders on stainless wire
rod, this product is included in the investigation.
Under Section 201, the ITC will investigate whether imports have increased
in such an amount as to be a substantial cause of serious injury or threat
of serious injury to the US industry. If the ITC makes an affirmative finding,
the President will have a range of options, such as providing trade adjustment
assistance to the US steel industry and its workers, or raising tariffs
and/or imposing quotas on steel imports. In deciding what action to take,
the President must take into account a range of factors, including the
actions the industry intends to take to improve its competitiveness and
the impact on the downstream industries and the economy.
Once the ITC formally initiates its investigation, it has 180 days to
report its findings to the President. If the ITC makes an affirmative injury
determination, the President has 60 days to determine the appropriate remedy.
The injury hearings before the ITC are scheduled to begin on September
17, and could last a couple of weeks.
As for the multi-lateral negotiations on steel production and over-capacity,
a top European trade official recently stated that the European Union had
not yet agreed to any dates to negotiate solutions to these problems because
the US had yet to define the issues it wanted on the table. According to
US trade sources, administration officials are drafting a detailed document
that would guide negotiators in measuring excess capacity and address issues
of legacy costs and incentives for our trading partners to negotiate on
global steel problems.
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American Wire Producers Association
801 North Fairfax Street, Suite 211
Alexandria, VA 22314-1757
Tel (703) 299-4434 | Fax (703) 299-9233 | E-mail info@awpa.org | Web: www.awpa.org
