US steel industry wins trade case against China

[Omaha Steve]

Source: Associated Press

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. steel pipe manufacturers, who have been battling a surge in imports from China, won a major victory Friday when the International Trade Commission cleared the way for the imposition of stiff penalty tariffs for the next five years.

The commission voted 5-0 that the U.S. industry was being harmed by the import of circular steel pipe. The decision marked the first time a U.S. industry has won a decision to impose tariffs on a Chinese product based on the argument that the Chinese government was unfairly subsidizing a Chinese industry.

The commission ruling means penalty tariffs ranging from 99 percent to 701 percent will be imposed on Chinese imports of circular welded pipe, a form of pipe used in a variety of construction jobs, such as home plumbing and sprinkler systems.

For more than two decades, the U.S. government had refused to consider subsidy cases against the Chinese government because China was classified as a non-market economy.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20080620/D91E1E480.html

[rockymountaindem]

1. First piece of good news I've heard all day n/t

[OhioChick]

2. Good to Hear!

K&R

[Lasher]

3. Well done but it's not significant.

It's like trying to keep yourself dry with paper towels while fire hoses are directed on you from all sides. I applaud this victory but it's actually just treating a symptom. The disease is all this 'free' trade bullshit.