U.S.
steelmakers argued on Wednesday that products from oil drilling pipe to
concrete-reinforcing bars need broad protection from imports on national security
grounds,
while foreign governments and firms argued that the industry is
adequately meeting U.S. defense needs.
The comments
came at a U.S. Commerce Department hearing for a national security
investigation into steel imports that could lead to broader tariffs or import
quotas than the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties now in place on dozens of
steel products.
Commerce
Secretary Wilbur Ross told the hearing he hoped to complete the review under a
Cold War-era trade law by the end of June, much sooner than the 270 days
allowed under the statute.
American
steel industry executives argued that a flood of imports has dangerously eroded
their profitability and thus their ability to continue meeting very broadly
defined national security needs.
"Unfortunately,
global overcapacity and unfairly traded imports threaten our ability to invest.
Production overcapcacity in the steel industry has reached crisis levels,"
said John Ferriola, chief executive of top U.S. producer Nucor Inc (NUE.N).
The executives
said this not only applies to highly engineered armor plate for tanks and ships
but to more mundane products such as steel tubing and "rebar,"
considered a commodity steel rod product used in construction of concrete
buildings, roads and bridges.
Commercial
Metals Co (CMC.N) President Barbara Smith called rebar "a product of
critical importance to this nation's infrastructure."
AK Steel
(AKS.N) Chief Executive Roger Newport said imports threatened the company's
production of electrical steel used in power generation and transmission,
potentially making the U.S. electrical grid dependent on imports.
Gu Yu, first
secretary of China's Ministry of Commerce, said there was no evidence that
steel imports threatened U.S. national security, noting that dumping orders had
sharply curtailed imports from China. He said U.S. needs "can be and are
readily satisfied by U.S. domestic production."
Some steel
buyers said restricting certain imports would hurt their businesses because
there were few or no domestic suppliers for certain products.
Tracey
Norberg, general counsel for the Rubber Manufacturers Association said all of
the steel wire used in tire-making is imported and should be exempted from any
duties.
John Cross,
chief executive of Steelscape LLC, a Washington state-based fabricator of metal
building products, said his firm depends on steel imported into West Coast
ports that offer lower shipping costs than shipments by rail from mills in the
Eastern United States.
REUTERS
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