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Steel union fights imports
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December 30, 1998: 9:48 a.m. ET
Seven U.S. steel companies and their union head to Int'l Trade Commission
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Seven U.S. companies and the United Steelworkers of America union on Wednesday filed a petition with the U.S. International Trade Commission complaining that imports of steel wire rods were seriously harming their industry.
"The onslaught of low-priced imports, now accounting for more than one-third of domestic consumption, has seriously harmed the U.S. wire rod industry," said Charles Owen Verrill, a lawyer for the firms.
The International Trade Commission will review the petition and, if it agrees with the petitioners, could recommend that the President act under Section 201 of the 1974 Trade Act, to help limit imports. The process is likely to take eight months.
An industry statement on the petition said imports of wire rod from countries outside the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) area had risen by more than 16 percent in 1998, while overall imports were up by more than 60 percent since 1993.
As a result, U.S. manufacturers had seen their prices collapse, causing production shutdowns, delayed or abandoned investments and temporary or permanent job losses.
"There is a significant idling of domestic capacity, causing substantial harm to local communities and steelworkers throughout the United States," Verrill said.
Steel wire rod is a hot-rolled, coiled steel product produced from semi-finished steel billets. Wire rod is used for hundreds of applications, from coat hangers to cables.
The companies filing the petition were Birmingham Steel Corp; Connecticut Steel Corp; Co-Steel Raritan; GS Industries Inc; Keystone Steel & Wire Co; North Star Steel Co; and Northwestern Steel & Wire Co.
Earlier this month, the Commerce Department found evidence that eight nations were dumping stainless steel sheet and coil strip in the U.S. market -- the stainless steel industry's largest line of products.
The department set antidumping duties ranging from about 3 percent to nearly 60 percent on imports from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
The U.S. International Trade Commission was left to determine whether U.S. industry was being hurt by the imports. It has the final say in imposing the duties.
The U.S. steel industry has been pressing government officials to do something about a flood of cheap steel imports from Asia and other parts of the world.
The stainless steel sheet and strip case was filed in June by four U.S. producers and the United Steelworkers of America along with two other independent unions.
A tough year
It's been a tough year for the steel industry. Plagued with shrinking profit margins and heightened competition, many have been forced to layoff workers and temporarily halt production at their plants.
At least one smaller steel company, Acme Metal, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
After announcing cutbacks at its Philadelphia plant last month, U.S. Steel Group, the nation's largest steel maker, blaming its waning demand on the glut of under-priced steel being imported into the country.
"The situation is only getting worse," said John Armstrong, a spokesman for the company, said at the time. "We started to notice it in July when imports really started to increase."
Armstrong added U.S. Steel Group (X) has sold virtually nothing abroad this year.
"There's no market for (steel) in Russia and Asia right now," he said. "In order for anything to be done about it, President Clinton will have to take some action to stop the dumping" of low-priced import steel.
For the most part, the U.S. steel industry blames Russia, Japan and Brazil for its troubles. 
-- from staff and wire reports
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