Is it time for the U.S. to eliminate steel trade cases?

Is it time for the U.S. to eliminate steel trade cases?

It has never been easy to analyze and predict the future course of the steel market. Hurricane Katrina seriously affected recent market developments and the center of the steel distribution system, New Orleans, will not operate at full capacity for some time. The crucial supply of liquid hydrogen has also been interrupted to some suppliers of cold rolled and galvanized sheets. One mill, Steel Dynamics, has suspended acceptance of new orders for both product lines. At the same time, scrap has seen another big increase. This prompted Nucor to temporarily suspend new orders for their flat rolled products until the scrap price picture clarifies. Supplies are starting to get scarce and pricing is relentlessly moving up. The US steel market, always one of the most expensive in the world, is bound to get more expensive and the US consumer will pay dearly for the reconstruction of devastated Gulf Coast areas. Allowing more imported steel into the country would greatly help the US economy in several ways: For one, it would ease the pressure on US exports because of retaliatory measures against the US. Japan and other Asian countries, as well as the EU, have retaliatory tariffs in place against US products, including steel items. Furthermore, it would help the American consumer who has almost single-handedly propped up the US economy throughout the most recent recession and recovery period. Higher steel prices will find their way into cars and appliances. As steel goes up, those prices go up. The end result will be a consumer less likely to spend their disposable income on durable goods. The quicker they act to do so, the less damage the US economy and US steel industry will suffer due to soaring steel prices and shrinking inventories. Finally, it would reduce the enormous economic financial burden inflicted by Hurricane Katrina. The reconstruction of the Gulf Coast area will require a great amount of steel. The higher the steel price, the more it will cost to rebuild the affected areas. It has never been better time for the Bush Administration to cancel, or at least suspend, the 182 anti-dumping and countervailing duty trade cases currently in force against 34 countries’ steel products. The quicker they act to do so, the less damage the US economy and US steel industry will suffer due to soaring steel prices and shrinking inventories.