Schumer: Trump must act to crack down on aluminum, steel imports

In addition, the report advises putting a quota on all steel products from all countries equal to 63% of each country’s 2017 exports to the United States.

-Impose a quota on steel and aluminum imports from everywhere, limiting each country 63 percent of the steel and 86.7 percent of the aluminum they shipped to the US a year ago.

Trump has until mid-April to decide whether he will move forward, with expectations high that any U.S. action is likely to be challenged by exporting nations in the WTO.

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the president could choose a third option: To do nothing, or something completely different. China’s Ministry of Commerce reacted on Saturday suggesting the possibility of retaliation. Wang said that if the final decision made by the United States impacts China’s interests, it will definitely take all the required and necessary measures to ensure that its own rights are protected.

Turkish market participants mostly believe that the report will affect Turkish steel and raw material markets badly, as well as the markets supplying raw materials to Turkey and potentially even the U.S. market itself, Metal Bulletin was told.

Century Aluminum shares closed up 8.3 per cent, while Alcoa, which has operations across the globe, ended off 0.44 per cent.

For the South African investigations, the US Department of Commerce assigned a dumping rate of 142.26% for the entity composed of ArcelorMittal South Africa Limited, Scaw South Africa and Consolidated Wire Industries, based on adverse facts available owing to these companies’ alleged failure to respond to the Department’s requests for information. And yet in view of Trump’s past trade measures, it is hard to expect him to exempt South Korea from the steel import curbs. “Everyone loses” if those recommendations are put in place, he said.

In June, Ross said the investigations would be completed soon.

Chinese steel and aluminum makers, a group that includes some of the world’s largest producers of both metals, stand to bear the brunt of new tariffs if the USA decides to impose them.

Trade investigation under “Section 232” of the Trade Expansion Act the Commerce Department applied this time seeks to determine whether steel imports pose a threat to the United States national security.

Although China contributes only about 1% to U.S. steel imports, Beijing can turn to the World Trade Organization if the USA takes action – a process that can take years. The actual report pointed its finger to China’s chronic global steel oversupply as a cause of weakening the USA economy and analyzed that steel imports will not decline unless this issue is resolved. Second, given the high capital intensity and fixed costs inherent to the steel and aluminum industries, higher capacity utilization would drive the benefits of operating leverage as production volumes rise.

“That is the level we believe would provide the industry with long-term viability”, he said.

The measures are linked to United States national security; President Donald Trump will consider the measures and should decide on trade policy by April. “We make aluminum and we make steel in Missouri, but we buy a lot of aluminum and we buy a lot of steel as well”. It said its members employ 1 million workers in America, compared to 80,000 employed in the steel industry.

USA steel makers continue to pin their hopes on President Trump imposing new restrictions on imported steel. Our midcycle USA hot-rolled coil price forecast rises to $460 per short ton from $420, while our midcycle US rebar price forecast rises to $500 per short ton from $430 (both above marginal cost). He has until about mid-April under the trade law to decide on any potential action.