The Steel Founders' Society of America (SFSA) partnered with ITA through the Market Development Cooperator Program (MDCP) in late 2004. The goal was to guard against standards that restrict U.S. access to the world market for steel mill products. The results have been impressive. In late the quarter ended September 30, 2006, after two years of hard work, SFSA conservatively estimated its first increase in exports due to its increased standards activity. By September 30, 2008, SFSA estimated that an additional $88 million of U.S. exports in this two-year period could be attributed to its standards project.

The strategy was simple – get more U.S. industry representatives involved in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) steel standards development meetings. Also, a U.S. standards attaché was able to participate in many of the ISO meetings on steel standards. Unlike many countries, the United States does not have a government body that develops or promulgates standards. ISO committee work is done by U.S. industry product experts. After an ISO meeting where a U.S. standards attaché was present, one U.S. industry delegate attributed progress to the presence of the attaché noting “the atmosphere of the meeting was very accommodating, particularly on the work of harmonizing chemical compositions of approximately 100 grades of stainless steels.”

In addition to the standards attachés in Brussels, the MDCP partnership enabled cooperation between SFSA and the standards liaison group and industry experts in ITA’s Manufacturing and Services in Washington, DC. The $172,000 of MDCP award funds helped SFSA cover additional travel and personnel costs. The partnership with ITA included the critical support of ASTM International (a standards developing organization), the American Iron and Steel Institute, and other industry groups. The result of the collective effort is liberalized exports for U.S. steel producers.

International standards stipulate certain product characteristics such as carbon content and tensile strength are critical. Products such as the pipe and hot-dipped galvanized strip pictured above will be exported to foreign customers only if they meet the standards that these customers use.

MDCP Project Summary:

Cooperator: Steel Founders' Society of America (Crystal Lake, IL)

Industry: Steel mill products.

Markets: World.

MDCP award: $172,139

SFSA match: $378,189

MDCP-generated exports to date: $88,289,197

Period: 2004-2008

Scope of project: Maintain access to European markets and expand access to developing markets like China as they adopt ISO standards. Influence the development of international standards by greater involvement of U.S. steel producing companies and other U.S. industry groups.

Key ITA team members: Commercial Service: Standards Attache/Brussels; Manufacturing and Services: Standards Liaison, Machinery & Materials.

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The International Organization for Standardization is a network of 157 national members with a Central Secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland, that coordinates the system.