WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today applauded the International Trade Commission’s (ITC) finding that the U.S. steel industry has been injured by hot-rolled steel imports from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Turkey and the United Kingdom.

This positive decision is good news for Ohio steel companies and will result in new antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CVD) duty orders against the countries’ steel imports. Legislation that Brown wrote and helped usher through the Senate has been credited by the steel industry for helping to make these positive determinations possible.

“Ohio’s steel communities have felt the impact of unfair trade practices that have put their families and neighbors out of work and shut down our steel mills,” said Brown. “Today’s decision builds on a series of positive news from ITC that will provide relief for our steel industry. The Leveling the Playing Field Act is working case-by-case to crack down on trade cheats. We need to keep building on its success and enforce our trade laws.”

Brown testified at a hearing on the case in May. It is one of three filed by U.S. steel companies, including: U.S. Steel, AK Steel, ArcelorMittal, and Nucor, all of which have Ohio locations and together employ more than 8,255 Ohioans.

Brown has worked to crack down on countries that unfairly import their products into the U.S. In April, Brown called on the Administration to bring a World Trade Organization (WTO) case against China in an effort to address steel overcapacity, which has hurt the domestic steel industry.

Brown’s legislation, the Leveling the Playing Field Act, introduced in March 2015 and signed into law in June 2015, has restored strength to AD and CVD duty statutes that allow businesses and workers in the United States to petition the Commerce Department and the ITC when foreign producers sell goods in the U.S. below market price or receive illegal subsidies. This legislation helped the companies succeed in today’s case.

The four companies with Ohio locations that filed this case have a presence in the following areas:

  • U.S. Steel: Lipsec, Lorain,             
  • Nucor: Cincinnati, Marion, Orrville,                        
  • ArcelorMittal: Cleveland, Columbus, Marion, Pioneer, Richfield, Shelby, Warren
  • AK Steel: Coshocton, Mansfield, Middletown, Walbridge, Zanesville

 

 

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