A lawsuit centring on steel purchased for US highway programmes calls attention to haphazard application of the Buy American Act

摘要

The Commerce Department on 23 December levied a 256 per cent tax on imports of corrosion-resistant steel from China, and a ruling is expected early this year on tariffs requested by the industry on imports of Chinese-made hot- and cold-rolled steel. Imports of finished steel products were down 15 percent in November, compared with October, according to preliminary numbers from the American Iron and Steel Institute, a trade group. Even as the major trade cases filed over the summer move forward, however, continuing depressed prices for iron ore and coal help to keep steel prices down. Over the course of 2015 in the US, iron ore was down 39 per cent; coal, 22 per cent.