Pittsburgh-based Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI) has announced that the company filed for an exclusion from Section 232 tariffs on behalf of its recently formed Allegheny & Tsingshan Stainless joint venture (JV). The JV imports semi-finished stainless slab products from Indonesia which are subject to the recent 25 percent import tariff. The JV will continue operations during the review process. The tariff exclusion review will take up to 90 days to complete.
ATI previously idled the Midland DRAP facility in February 2016 due in part to dumped and subsidized stainless imports from China. Leveraging Tsingshan’s Indonesian production of semi-finished stainless slabs enables both the restart of the DRAP facility, as well as more efficient and cost-effective operation of ATI’s HRPF, thereby creating and supporting skilled manufacturing jobs in the US.
Rich Harshman, ATI’s Chairman, President and CEO said, “This innovative JV is a great example of a capital efficient, globally competitive supply chain – one that leverages ATI’s world-class Hot-Rolling and Processing Facility (HRPF) located in Brackenridge, PA, the JV’s Direct Roll Anneal and Pickle (DRAP) Facility in Midland, PA and Tsingshan’s extensive Indonesian resources and capabilities.” Harshman added, “This JV, which began commercial operations earlier this year, will directly create up to 100 high-paying manufacturing jobs in Western Pennsylvania and will support a significant number of workers and businesses along its US supply chain.”