Steel Caucus worried duties on Chinese steel too weak

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U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair

Malia Spencer

Reporter- Pittsburgh Business Times

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The Congressional Steel Caucus is again jumping into the fray over concerns about rising steel imports, particularly from China.

This time the caucus is calling on the Department of Commerce to continue to enforce the 2010 trade ruling that places anti-dumping and countervailing duties on steel pipe, known as oil country tubular goods (OCTG).

The duties were placed in 2010 following a case brought by a group of domestic producers including United States Steel Corp. and the industry labor group United Steelworkers.

MORE: Local steel execs push Congress on China trade

In a letter addressed to Acting Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank, the caucus, which is led by U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Upper St. Clair, said there are attempts to weaken the anti-dumping and countervailing duties by evading them and narrowing the scope of products covered.

“If allowed to succeed, these attempts will have the disastrous consequence of enabling Chinese producers and exports to continue to ship dumped and subsidized Chinese OCTG to the United States without paying the legally required AD and CVD duties, causing further injury to U.S. jobs and businesses,” the letter stated.

Malia Spencer covers manufacturing, higher education and technology. Contact her at mspencer@bizjournals.com or (412) 208-3829. You can also follow her on Twitter.