U.S. Steel Firms File Complaints Over Imports : Trade: The Americans say subsidies allow foreign makers to sell at unfair prices in the United States.
The nation’s largest steel makers filed dozens of trade complaints Tuesday against foreign competitors that they contend are selling steel in the United States at unfair prices.
“There is no question that foreign subsidy and dumping violations are causing severe injury to U.S. producers,” said Thomas J. Usher, president of USX Corp.’s U.S. Steel group. “Unfair trade practices have cost tens of thousands of American jobs, and they threaten thousands more.”
The 84 petitions, filed with the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission, allege that producers in Japan, Brazil, Canada, Germany and 17 other countries enjoy massive government subsidies that allow them to price steel exports far below fair market value in the United States.
Industry officials said foreign governments have spent more than $100 billion since 1980 to subsidize steel exports, which accounted for nearly 18% of the U.S. market last year.
A Japanese industry official, who said the cases would create havoc in world steel trade, suggested that the U.S. industry “look inward to discover the real cause for their problems.”
“Blaming the imports cannot cure the structural problems of American steel,” said Yoshitaka Fujitani, chairman of the Japan Steel Information Center in New York. “These unfounded charges only harass legitimate competition and hurt American consumers.” He denied that Japan subsidized its steel industry.
The petitions involve 6.5 million tons of flat-rolled carbon steel sold in 1991 and valued at $2.5 billion. Unfair trade contributed to industrywide losses of $2.2 billion in 1991 and $108 million in the first quarter of 1992, they said.
“We are fully capable and willing to compete in a fair, free and open market with any steel maker in the world. We are here today because . . . the industry is still injured by unfair trade practices and is once again fighting for its survival,” said D. H. Hoag, chairman of LTV Corp.
Under federal trade laws, the government can impose duties in cases involving subsidized or dumped goods. It must be shown, however, that the imports are damaging domestic industries.
