EU Mills Unlikely To Flood US Steel Market If 201 Tariffs Removed

摘要

Global steel market conditions have presented president Bush with an opportunity to do the statesmanlike thing - accept the World Trade Organisation's ruling that the US Section 201 import tariffs are illegal and end them. US steel mills fear that lifting the "safeguard" tariffs would result in a renewed surge of low-priced imports that would derail their continuing moves to consolidate. In the current state of the market, this is unlikely. Prices are quite firm and global demand for steel is strong. Conditions are very different from the late 1990's when US steel imports rose sharply, forcing many mills into bankruptcy. There is no longer a serious international over-supply of steel. Global production is running at all-time record levels, but prices are holding reasonably steady. US steel imports would perhaps increase somewhat if the tariffs were eliminated, but for the foreseeable future it is hard to imagine circumstances in which a surge in foreign supplies would lead to another price collapse.