Government/Policy
October 20, 2019
Written by Lewis Leibowitz
Trade attorney and Steel Market Update contributor Lewis Leibowitz offers the following update on events in Washington:
New developments cascaded on us in the past week. I will focus, as is my habit, on those related to international trade and commerce. Trade-related developments called into question a number of initiatives in Congress and the administration.
The result comes after Mexico’s Ministry of Economy completed a five-year sunset review of the anti-dumping duty (AD) order on imports of hot-rolled (HR) sheet from Russia and Ukraine.
President Trump said a trade deal with Canada could come within the next few weeks.
US steel industry groups representing most of domestic steel production are urging the Trump administration to tighten trade measures on steel imports from South Korea. They are seeking a South Korea-specific tariff-rate quota (TRQ) and an investigation into a reported import surge.
In 2015, finished steel imports were 29% of apparent domestic consumption of steel, as estimated by AISI. In 2025, the import share had fallen to 18%. Steel lobbyists think that is progress, but the reality is more complex.
Several steel trade organizations have called on President Trump to resist weakening Section 232 steel tariffs.