Steel Mills

US Steel To Argue For Section 337 Claims in Court

February 28, 2017

The US Steel will be in court on March 14 presenting oral arguments opposing the dismissal of antitrust claims in its Section 337 complaint against China.

The US International Trade Commission initiated a Section 337 investigation on June 2, 2016 in response to a complaint by US Steel regarding the import of carbon and alloy steel products from China. US Steel alleged that Chinese steel manufacturers: 1) conspired to fix prices and control the output and export volumes of steel products to restrain or monopolize trade and commerce in the United States; 2) misappropriated trade secrets; and 3) engaged in false designation of origin or manufacturer.

The antitrust claim of price fixing and control of output and export volumes was terminated by the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) on November 23, 2016.

Judge Sandra Lord will hear arguments from US Steel on why the termination of the antitrust claim should be rescinded.

In addition, on February 27 the Commission issued an order reversing the termination of US Steel’s false designation of origin claim.

The termination of the claim was issued on January 11, 2017 after US Steel failed to comply with a Commission Rule that “requires that a complaint ‘describe specific instances of alleged unlawful importation[s] or sales….’”

On January 23, US Steel filed a petition for review of the determination and, following a review, the Commission reversed the decision and remanded the investigation to the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) for further proceedings.