Should S201 to cover Brazilian and Egyptian rebar
A group of US
rebar producers put pressure on the US authorities to include
Egypt and
Brazil in the Section 201 remedies of President Bush, with allegations of import surge from these countries.
Brazil and
Egypt were excluded from the 15% tariffs imposed under the S201 remedies, as developing nations. Only quotas for
slab exports from
Brazil were allocated under the framework of these safeguard measures. However, according to the US producers, following the implementation of the S201 tariffs imports from these two countries rose in high levels.
According to US producers,
rebar imports from
Egypt reached almost 12% and from
Brazil to 9% of entire US
rebar imports after March 2002, when the safeguards were implemented. 12 months prior to March 2002,
rebar imports were at the levels of 2.12% from
Egypt and 2% from
Brazil. This rise in import levels makes
Egypt as the fourth and
Brazil the fifth biggest source for US
rebar imports.
The local producers believe that this situation is obstructing the
rebar price recovery in the local market. Very slight price increase recorded so far is already offset by the rising
scrap costs.