The Brazilian Steel Institute, IABr, said it was “surprised” to learn that five US mills have requested the US Department of Commerce to initiate AD investigations on imports of Brazilian flat steel.
According to a media report, US Steel, Steel Dynamics Inc., AK Steel, Nucor and ArcelorMittal USA filed a petition with the US Department of Commerce to apply AD as well as countervailing measures on steel imports from finished flat steel from Brazil and other countries.
According to a media report, if applied, the US could apply tariffs of up to 59 percent on Brazilian flat steel. If approved, the duties could impact 14 Brazilian producers, including Usiminas and Companhia Siderurgica Nacional (CSN).
According to IABr, it sees the risk of the “protectionist” measures like this as “worrying”. Marco Mello Lopes, president at IABr, said the focus should be imports of steel from China, not Brazil. “We had the feeling that Brazil has entered into their petitions in order to make volume.”
Lopes said the Brazilian share in the steel imports from the US is still small, reaching 3 percent.