Should S201 to cover Brazilian and Egyptian rebar

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.