Kelley Drye Wins Two Victories for Stainless Steel Producers in ITC Five-Year (Sunset) Reviews

Washington, DC – Yesterday’s announcement from the International Trade Commission (“ITC”) that duties will remain in place on stainless steel sheet and strip imports from six countries that were found to be engaging in unfair trade activity was good news for domestic producers of stainless steel. The ITC ruled that the countervailing and antidumping duty orders should remain in place for Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, and Taiwan. The orders were revoked for France and the United Kingdom. This is the second victory in a month for the stainless steel industry.

Two weeks ago, the ITC voted to maintain existing countervailing duty and antidumping duty orders on certain stainless steel plate in coils from Belgium, Italy, Korea, South Africa, and Taiwan. The antidumping duty order on Canada, where there are currently no operating producers of stainless steel coiled plate, was revoked.

With world-wide capacity for these products continuing to grow, maintaining the orders against dumped and subsidized stainless steel coiled plate and sheet and strip imports, and the market discipline that the orders provide, is critically important to the domestic stainless steel industry,” said Skip Hartquist, Chairman of Kelley Drye’s International Trade practice group.

The original orders were issued in 1999 and five-year (“sunset”) reviews concerning certain stainless steel plate and sheet and strip imports were instituted on April 1, 2004. The ITC’s recent rulings show that revoking the orders would likely lead to a continuation or recurrence of material injury to the U.S. producers of stainless steel plate and sheet and strip. These rulings follow a Commerce Department finding that the foreign producers subject to the orders were likely to resume dumping at significant margins.

Kelley Drye represented the following domestic producers and employee organizations in the sunset reviews: Allegheny Ludlum Corporation, AK Steel Corporation, North American Stainless, United Steelworkers of America AFL-CIO/CLC (“USWA”), Local 3303 United Auto Workers, and Zanesville Armco Independent Organization, Inc.

The ITC’s action was taken pursuant to the five-year sunset review provisions of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act. As a result, the orders will be maintained for an additional five years before other sunset reviews are undertaken.

About Kelley Drye

Kelley Drye’s Washington, DC office solves competitive problems for Fortune 500 companies, privately held corporations, government entities, and trade associations in the US and abroad. The firm has over 100 attorneys and professionals practicing in the following areas: Advertising and Marketing, Antitrust and Competition, Business Strategies and Transactions, Technology, Environmental, Government Relations and Public Policy, Intellectual Property, International Trade, Litigation, and Trade Associations.