A coalition of US nail manufacturers asked Friday to join a court action in order to sustain new tariffs ordered last month on importers violating US trade policy.
The American Steel Nail Coalition, whose members manufacture the vast majority of nails made in the United States, filed the request with the Court of International Trade. The court is considering an appeal by Oman Fasteners, based in a nation bordering Saudi Arabia that has become a major nail producer.
On Jan. 24, 2020, the Trump administration issued a proclamation that extended Section 232 tariffs to several kinds of steel nails and other derivative products. The proclamation noted that from June 2018 to May 2019, import volumes of nails and similar products increased 33 percent compared to the same period a year earlier.
In its motion to intervene, the American Steel Nail Coalition noted that the volume of nails from Oman-based Oman Fasteners into the US jumped 95 percent over the 12 months ending May 2019. The Oman nails alone, coming from a single producer, were thus "a huge driver of the overall 33 percent increase," the coalition said.
Members of the American Steel Nail Coalition include American Fasteners, of Jurupa Valley, Cal.; Legacy Fasteners, Poplar Bluff, Mo.; Mid Continent Steel & Wire, also of Poplar Bluff; Senco, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Specialty Nail, Prairie Grove, Ark.; and Tree Island Wire USA, San Bernardino, Cal.