U.S. steel makers raised an antidumping and counterveilling lawsuit against Korean-made cold-rolled steel sheets.
The Korea International Trade Association said on July 29 that five American steel companies including U.S. Steel and AK Steel filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission and the Department of Commerce for antidumping and counterveilling grounds against cold-rolled steel sheet suppliers from eight countries including China, India, Brazil, and Korea.
The litigants claimed that American steel makers received material damage from cheap imports from Korea and demanded Korean suppliers be assessed antidumping tariffs of 93.32 to 176.13 percent. As for Chinese, India, and Brazilian suppliers, they demanded the dumping charges of 265.98 percent, 42.58 percent, and 50.07-59.74 percent, respectively.
As for countervailling duties, they claimed a total of 41 government programs are equivalents to illegal subsidies. For example, provision of energy at prices lower than proper levels, energy purchase programs of the government at prices higher than market rates, the short-term export financing programs offered by Korea EximBank, and export finance insurance of the Korea Trade Insurance Corp.
Korean steel suppliers have sold 258,000 tons of steel products to the United States last year. Dongkuk Steel, POSCO, Dongbu Steel, and Hyundai Steel are exporting cold-rolled steel plates to countries including the United States.
