Reposted from the Steel Business Briefing

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US ITC Rules To Continue Duties On Japanese Clad Plate

January 16, 2013 | Steel Business Briefing

The US International Trade Commission (ITC) voted 4-2 to continue existing antidumping orders on Japanese clad plate imports after a five-year “sunset” review Tuesday.

ITC chairman Irving A. Williamson and commissioners Shara L. Aranoff, Dean A. Pinkert, and David S. Johanson voted in the affirmative while commissioners Daniel R. Pearson and Meredith Broadbent voted in the negative.

This was the third sunset review of the order, which was first put in place in July 1996. Current information puts AD duties on the imports for all producers at 118.53%.

Clad plate is carbon steel plate clad with a corrosion-resistant steel such as stainless. It is used to manufacture vessels or structures for heavy industrial projects. Domestic clad plate producers ArcelorMittal USA and Dynamic Materials Corp., participated in the review. Both have their clad plate manufacturing operations in Pennsylvania.

Kelley Drye & Warren represented the domestic clad plate industry.

“The significant volume of dumped imports from Japan likely to enter the United States absent this order would decimate the US industry,” US counsel Kathleen Cannon, a partner at Kelley Drye & Warren, said in a statement.

A statement from Kaoru Okamoto, chairman of the Japan Steel Information Center, said that, “Based on the determination in this sunset review, the ITC has concluded that continued pampering and protection of the US steel industry should be given the highest priority. This is a counter-intuitive decision and an extremely disappointing one at that.”

He went on to say the Japanese steel industry will review the decision and determine a proper course of action.