New US duties on Chinese tin mill steel imports are struck down, drawing criticism from lawmakers
- International Trade Commission rejects proposed tariffs of 122.5 per cent on Chinese products, saying US industry was not ‘materially injured’ by the imports
- Commission also strikes down proposed duties for imports from Canada, South Korea and Germany, but those ranged from 2 to 6.88 per cent
A US trade agency struck down proposed duties on tin mill steel imports from China and three other countries on Tuesday, drawing criticism from lawmakers whose constituencies include steelmakers that claimed the tariffs were essential to offset below-cost dumping by foreign companies.
A four-member panel of the International Trade Commission voted unanimously to overturn 122.5 per cent tariffs on Chinese tin mill products the US Commerce Department proposed last month.
The ITC also struck down duties the department proposed for tin mill steel imports from Canada, South Korea and Germany, but those ranged merely from 2 to 6.88 per cent.
The commission determined that the US industry was not “materially injured or threatened” by the imports. The US will continue to levy a 25 per cent custom duty on tin mill steel from China that was first imposed in 2018 during the Donald Trump administration.
Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, said the ITC “got this wrong”, contending that the ruling would “make it impossible for Ohio’s tin mill industry and other domestic manufacturers to compete with unfair, illegally dumped steel from countries like China”.
Brown, along with Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia, testified in January before the panel in favour of the proposed new duties.