Chinese Steel

Cold Finished Steel Bar Institute Unveils New Industry Data Program

Heather Tighe January 28, 2015

The Cold Finished Steel Bar Institute (CFSBI) has announced the inauguration of a new, improved program to collect and aggregate industry data for carbon and alloy steel bars. “Members of the CFSBI have been concerned for many years that the industry data which was being collected presented an inaccurate and misleading picture of the cold finished steel bar industry,” said CFSBI Chairman Michael Salamon, President and Chief Operating Officer of Niagara LaSalle Corporation. “We believe the new program will prove to be substantially more accurate and valuable for our industry.” Former reports may not have reasonably reflected the overall size of the U.S. market, the amount of apparent domestic consumption, nor the market’s general direction and exposure to import activity.” The new program will be administered by Georgetown Economic Services (GES), a subsidiary of the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren, legal counsel to the CFSBI. GES will collect confidential monthly shipment data from member and non-member companies alike. Federal government guidelines will be followed to assure that confidential data of individual companies will not be disclosed. If some U.S. producers decide not to report to GES, estimates of their shipment volumes will be made in order to enhance the accuracy of the aggregate data. The private industry data will be aggregated with official U.S. government import and export statistics in order to portray activity in the U.S. market. The new program will be effective with January 2015 data. Cold finished steel bar is incorporated into a wide range of consumer, industrial, aerospace, and military products. Essentially any product that contains a motor or moving part contains one or more components made from cold finished steel bar. The U.S. cold finished steel bar industry produces high-quality products on an efficient and cost-competitive basis, using highly trained workers under environmentally sound conditions. Originally published: PR News Wire

COLD FINISHED STEEL BAR INSTITUTE MONITORING IMPORTS

Heather Tighe August 19, 2015

The Cold Finished Steel Bar Institute (CFSBI) has initiated a new program to monitor imports of carbon and alloy cold finished steel bars to determine whether U.S. trade laws are being violated. “Members of the CFSBI are deeply concerned about increases in imports and import penetration in the U.S. market,” said CFSBI Chairman Michael Salamon, President and Chief Operating Officer of Niagara LaSalle Corporation. For example, “year-to-date imports through May 2015 have increased over year-to-date 2014 in the following categories: alloy cold finished bar (13 percent), carbon hot-rolled bar (12 percent), free machining hot-rolled bar (10.8 percent), and carbon cold finished bar (1.5 percent). We are gathering information on import pricing of all forms of carbon and alloy cold finished steel bars, and working with our lawyers and economic consultants to evaluate whether these import trends are being driven by unfair trade practices such as dumping and subsidies. We will be able to do this more accurately than ever before as a result of an improved program to collect and aggregate industry data for carbon and alloy steel bars,” Mr. Salamon said. While U.S. consumption of carbon cold-finished steel bar declined by 15 percent in year-to-date 2015, expanded import volumes resulted in an increase in import penetration of the U.S. market to 19 percent. Similarly, as imports of alloy cold-finished steel bar grew by 13 percent in year-to-date 2015 and U.S. consumption of that product fell by 7 percent, the result was an increase in imports’ share of the U.S. market to 40 percent, the highest level in history. The CFSBI is represented by David A. Hartquist of the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren, LLC, and Georgetown Economic Services (GES), a subsidiary of the law firm. Cold finished steel bar is incorporated into a wide range of consumer, industrial, aerospace, and military products. Essentially any product that contains a motor or moving part contains one or more components made from cold finished steel bar. The U.S. cold finished steel bar industry produces high-quality products on an efficient and cost-competitive basis, using highly trained workers under environmentally sound conditions.

COLD FINISHED STEEL BAR INSTITUTE URGES WHITE HOUSE TO TAKE EARLY ACTION IN SECTION 232 INVESTIGATION INTO STEEL

Heather Tighe September 18, 2017

The Cold Finished Steel Bar Institute (CFSBI) has sent a letter to President Donald Trump urging early action to impose a remedy under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to protect the ability of the American steel industry to supply materials critical to the nation’s defense and infrastructure requirements. Read the letter to President Trump here (PDF): CFSBI Letter to Trump “The bottom line is that we need help, and soon,” said CFSBI Chairman William Geary, President of Nelsen Steel Company. “We respectfully urge that any remedy determined in the Section 232 case apply not only to the cold finished steel bar we produce, but also to downstream component parts made by our customers which are then incorporated into subassemblies, motors, a multitude of industrial and infrastructure applications, and of course, various weapons and defense systems, which are absolutely critical to the protection of our country,” Mr. Geary said. Cold finished steel bar is incorporated into a wide range of consumer, industrial, aerospace, and military products. Essentially any product that contains a motor or moving part contains one or more components made from cold finished steel bar. The U.S. cold finished steel bar industry produces high-quality products on an efficient and cost-competitive basis, using highly trained workers under environmentally sound conditions. The Secretary of Commerce initiated the Section 232 investigation on steel imports on April 19, 2017. Section 232 investigations are initiated to determine the effects of imports of any articles on U.S. national security. In this case, the Commerce Department is determining the effect of steel imports on the national security. The Secretary initiated the investigation on steel imports in light of the large volumes of excess global steel production and capacity – much of which results from foreign government subsidies and other unfair practices – which distort the U.S. and global steel markets. Steel is used in a variety of commercial, infrastructure and defense applications. The CFSBI is represented by David A. Hartquist of the law firm Kelley Drye & Warren, LLC, and Georgetown Economic Services (GES), a subsidiary of the law firm. Originally published: PR News Wire

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ISSUES AFFIRMATIVE PRELIMINARY CIRCUMVENTION RULINGS ON STEEL FROM VIETNAM

Heather Tighe December 5, 2017

Today, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced preliminary affirmative rulings that corrosion-resistant steel (CORE) and certain cold-rolled steel flat products (cold-rolled steel) imported from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (Vietnam) produced from substrate originating in the People’s Republic of China (China) are circumventing existing antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders on CORE and cold-rolled steel imported from China. As a result of today’s announcement, Commerce will instruct Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to begin collecting cash deposits on imports of CORE and cold-rolled steel produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate. U.S. law provides that Commerce may find circumvention of AD/CVD orders when merchandise that is the same class or kind as merchandise subject to existing orders is completed or assembled in a third country prior to importation into the United States. CBP will collect AD and CVD cash deposits on imports of CORE produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate at rates of 199.43 percent and 39.05 percent, respectively. CBP will also collect AD and CVD cash deposits on imports of cold-rolled steel produced in Vietnam using Chinese-origin substrate at rates of 265.79 percent and 256.44 percent, respectively. These cash deposit rates were previously established in the investigations on cold-rolled steel and CORE from China. Duties will apply to all shipments entering the United States on or after November 4, 2016, the date the circumvention inquiries were initiated, that remain unliquidated. Importers and exporters of Vietnamese merchandise that is produced from substrate originating in Vietnam or a third-country have the option of seeking an exemption from cash deposits by certifying that the substrate originated outside of China. Shipments of CORE from Vietnam to the United States increased from two million dollars to $80 million after preliminary duties were imposed on Chinese products in 2015. Likewise, shipments of cold-rolled steel from Vietnam to the United States increased from nine million dollars to $215 million after preliminary duties were imposed on Chinese products in 2015. These inquiries were conducted pursuant to requests from U.S. domestic producers of CORE and cold-rolled steel: Steel Dynamics, Inc. (IN), California Steel Industries (CA), AK Steel Corporation (OH), ArcelorMittal USA LLC (IN), Nucor Corporation (NC) and United States Steel Corporation (PA). Commerce is currently scheduled to announce its final determinations in these inquiries on February 16, 2018. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Enforcement and Compliance unit within the International Trade Administration is responsible for vigorously enforcing U.S. trade laws and does so through an impartial, transparent process that abides by international law and is based solely on factual evidence. Original release appears at www.commerce.gov

Cold Finished Steel Bar Institute Unveils New Industry Data Program

COLD FINISHED STEEL BAR INSTITUTE MONITORING IMPORTS

COLD FINISHED STEEL BAR INSTITUTE URGES WHITE HOUSE TO TAKE EARLY ACTION IN SECTION 232 INVESTIGATION INTO STEEL

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE ISSUES AFFIRMATIVE PRELIMINARY CIRCUMVENTION RULINGS ON STEEL FROM VIETNAM

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