October 20, 2011

Revoke plate dumping duties: Japan

WASHINGTON — Foreign steelmakers are hoping to convince the International Trade Commission (ITC) to revoke anti-dumping duty orders on cut-to-length plate from India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan and South Korea, citing major changes in the domestic steel industry and the need to provide U.S. consumers a wider range of sourcing options.

"The world has changed so much since 1999, when the U.S. first put the orders on Japan, and we believe we have a really strong case," said Chris Wood, a partner at Washington-based law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, which represents four Japanese companies: JFE Steel Corp., Kobe Steel Ltd., Nippon Steel Corp. and Sumitomo Metals Industries Ltd. "The domestic industry is doing well, and it’s time for the commission to explain that the revocation is not likely to lead to the increase of imports."

The ITC kicked off the second sunset review on carbon-quality steel plate from Japan on Wednesday, with the domestic petitioners—including ArcelorMittal USA LLC, Nucor Corp., SSAB Americas and Evraz Inc. NA’s Oregon Steel and Claymont Steel—allotted one hour to present their argument, followed by a question-and-answer period. Foreign steelmakers also had an hour to make their argument, followed by a similar question-and-answer period.

Japanese interests and their representatives have pointed out that shipments of cut-to-length plate from Japan to the United States are already low due to what Wood described as a shifting market. Most of Japan’s cut-to-length plate is shipped to other parts of Asia, such as China, where a fast-growing economy and the need for rapid infrastructure-building have resulted in strong demand, he said.

"There are almost no shipments from Japan right now (to the United States) with the exception of those booked because consumers can’t get product domestically," Wood told AMM prior to the ITC hearing Wednesday. "Plate demand tends to be tied to energy and shipbuilding applications that are really booming in Asia. The long-term growth trends remain in Asia."

According to U.S. Census Bureau data, August imports of cut-to-length plate totaled 2,409 tonnes. Wood pointed out that duties applied to Japanese product amounted to only a small subsection of the cut-to-length plate category.

Wood said that the four Japanese steelmakers he represents exported only 100 tons to the United States over the six years of review, according to an ITC report.

"Japanese product is world-class and high-quality material," said Al Madison, executive director of the Washington-based Japan Steel Information Center. "Customers who want to buy Japanese product should be able to do it without barriers.

"End users often want a small quantity of specialty plate but they can’t get it domestically, so they’re going to import it. Right now, the only options are a few European mills," Wood added.

"This is an intergenerational dumping order, and it doesn’t make any sense in the context of the (World Trade Organization) or the U.S. industry," said David Phelps, president of the American Institute for International Steel. "They’re not bringing in the standard A36. It’s all high-quality material."

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