Bush may increase duties to help US steelmakers
Sources report that, US President George W. Bush is in preparation to increase duties on steel imports in order to protect
US steel makers.
The proposal submitted to US Department of Commerce (DOC) includes new method of calculation of the duties. According to the new method, duties will increase on steel imports worth $1.7 billion, which are determined to have been “dumped” in US, as the price of the imported steel is lower than the domestic price. Moreover, revenue from these duties will be shared among steel companies, which asked DOC for the changes on duties. These companies include International Steel Group,
US Steel Corp, and
Nucor Corp.
Having informed about the proposal of Bush, EU officials stated that the duties, calculated with the new method will not be different from the safeguard measures that were imposed in March 2002. Moreover, they asserted that the new duties are not consistent with the ruling of World Trade Organization (WTO), either. As a reply, Bush claimed that, the changes are normal and not against the ruling of WTO.