Trade Cases

US Plate Mills Seek End to Russian Plate Suspension Agreement

April 27, 2023

US plate producers are seeking to have the suspension agreement on Russian plate imports tossed and to be replaced with antidumping duties (AD).

Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs, and SSAB have asked the US Department of Commerce to terminate the AD suspension agreement on carbon steel plate from Russia. The producers say that the agreement is no longer meeting certain requirements of the Tariff Act of 1930, according to a Federal Register filing, and are asking for an AD order to be imposed on the cut-to-length plate imports from Russia instead.

The original suspension agreement dates back to 2003. The US industry did not even want the agreement at that time, a domestic industry attorney told SMU – it was made for political reasons. Now that relations with Russia have deteriorated even further, and considering that the Federation is no longer considered a market economy, the agreement is no longer in the public interest, the attorney said.

Commerce is evaluating the steelmakers’ request and seeking public comment from interested parties on whether they agree that the agreement is no longer meeting its statutory requirements. Parties have until May 24 to submit comments via this website.

According to data from the US International Trade Commission’s DataWeb, CTL plate imports from Russia totaled less than 76 net tons in 2020 and 110 tons in 2021. None of the Russian product was imported in 2022 or in any month so far this year.

As of deadline, neither Nucor, Cleveland-Cliffs, nor SSAB Americas had responded to SMU’s request for comment.

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held a variety of positions within the steel industry since 2007, including reporting and editing for Steel Business Briefing/Platts, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, and Kallanish Commodities, as well as marketing for what was then known as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (now AM/NS Calvert). After a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel in 2021 and has covered the flat rolled, tubular, and trade areas of the industry. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.