Trade Cases

A&T Stainless Seeks Tariff Exclusion, Hopes to Restart Midland DRAP Line
Written by Tim Triplett
December 21, 2021
A&T Stainless – a joint venture between Allegheny Technologies and China’s Tsingshan Group – has filed a request with the Commerce Department asking for a Section 232 tariff exclusion to import hot-band coils from Indonesia. If granted, A&T intends to restart the Midland, Pa., Direct Roll Anneal and Pickle (DRAP) line that was idled in July 2020.
“The joint venture idled the line in a manner that would allow operations to resume if circumstances changed. Through this request, A&T has the opportunity to support the market, benefit from current market conditions and bring employees back to work by restarting idled assets,” Danielle Carlini, A&T Stainless General Manager, told Steel Market Update.
About 70 Midland-based employees were affected by the idling last year “due to Section 232 tariffs that make the business unsustainable,” the company said at the time. A&T Stainless had imported semifinished stainless slab from Indonesia to produce 60-inch wide stainless sheet products, until it had to pay the 25% Section 232 tariff.
While the United Steelworkers support the opening of the Midland plant, and the jobs it would bring back, the union opposes the company’s exclusion request, maintaining that ATI could produce the steel in the U.S. rather than importing it from Indonesia.
“USW ATI locals are more than supportive of restarting the Midland facilities, but as usual the company is only telling half the story,” said the union in a Dec. 20 communication to members. “If ATI would expand the lucrative stainless business, Midland could easily be operating with coils produced in Breckenridge, Pa. But after two labor disputes since 2015, ATI is now attempting an end around to bring these coils into the U.S., even though ATI can produce and process the material within the company’s facilities in the U.S.”
By Tim Triplett, Tim@SteelMarketUpdate.com

Tim Triplett
Read more from Tim TriplettLatest in Trade Cases

Leibowitz: With ‘reciprocal’ tariffs struck down again in court, what happens next?
President Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Policy Act (IEEPA) were struck down again, this time on Aug. 29 by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC). The legal and policy mess continues, with the next stop being the US Supreme Court.

Market unfazed by US circuit court’s IEEPA decision
Repealing any reciprocal tariffs placed by President Donald Trump on US imports of direct reduced iron (DRI), iron ore, hot-briquetted iron (HBI), and pig iron would have only a nominal impact on the US steel market, market participants said.

ITC votes to keep HR duties after sunset review
The US government determined this week that hot-rolled steel imports from a handful of countries continue to threaten the domestic steel industry.

Steel Summit: Zekelman advocates for ‘Fortress North America’
Barry Zekelman has a unique vantage point from which to view today’s trade landscape. A Canadian national who owns operations in both the US and Canada, he has also had dialogue with both Canadian and American administrations.

Steel Summit: Execs urge clarity on trade/tariff policy, want stronger USMCA
Tariff policy dominated the discussion of the SMU Steel Summit trade panel on Tuesday afternoon. The message was clear: uncertainty is rattling the steel supply chain.