US still studies flat imports from India & Turkey

US still studies flat imports from India & Turkey

Sharp increase from India and Turkey might end up with S201. The US officials point out to the declining domestic steel production caused by the recent surge of flat product imports from India and Turkey. Classified as developing countries, India and Turkey are exempted from the S201 sanctions, India with exception of carbon steel flanges, yet import levels that have gone above the 3% threshold of total flat products into the US entail implementation of sanctions at this stage, according to the US producers. Reports reveal that United States Trade Representative Office (USTR) representative Robert Zoellick will be meeting Indian officials to discuss the matter. Indian import levels reached in four months period of April-July of 2002 to that of a whole year level of 2001. US steel companies among which are Nucor Corp., IPSCO Steel Inc., Galatine Steel and Rouge Steel have filed their request to USTR to include these two countries in the scope of S201 sanctions for all flat steel products other than slabs and tin mill products. Indian steel authorities claim that they are free to export upto 500'000 tons of galvanised sheets until December as total US imports amount to 15 million tons and that they are seeking a clarification from the US authorities for the ambiguity on which data to base themselves on, the arrival data or the shipment data that differ from each other.