Xinhua file picture.
The massive duties that the Obama administration proposed to levy on Chinese steel products will not cure the U.S. steel industry's grave ills, but it will undoubtedly hurt American manufacturers that need the low-priced steel to remain competitive, U.S. experts have said.
The U.S. Department of Commerce said on Tuesday in a final ruling that imports of Chinese cold-rolled steel, primarily used in appliances, automotive products and construction, would be subject to anti-dumping duties of 265.79 percent and anti-subsidy duties of 256.44 percent.
A total of over 500 percent of punitive duties could come into effect in the coming months if the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), another trade authority, rules that the imports have caused injury to the U.S. steel industry.
The case comes at a time of increasing anti-trade rhetoric in the U.S. presidential campaign, which has complicated the path for the administration lobbying lawmakers to ratify the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement before President Barack Obama leaves office in January 2017.
It also comes at a time when U.S. steelmakers increasingly resort to trade remedy case and tariff protection to ride out a sluggish steel market, as steel excess capacity has become an acute global challenge.
The United States has overtaken India as the leading user of anti-dumping and anti-subsidy investigations, with China and its steel sector the biggest target, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing an annual Global Trade Protection Report.
While tariff protection might prop up prices of the U.S. steel and score some populist points with voters in an election year, it can't improve market demand, save beleaguered steelmakers, or restore the health of the U.S. steel industry.
The United States has implemented 149 anti-dumping or anti-subsidy measures against steel imports, but "U.S. prices still are not high enough to make much of the U.S. steel industry profitable," said Daniel Pearson, a senior fellow and trade expert at the Cato Institute, a Washington-based thinktank.
"With domestic producers still suffering despite so much protection, it seems implausible to expect that a few more restrictions would alleviate their financial stress," said Pearson, who served as former commissioner and chairman at the USITC that oversees the U.S. trade remedy laws.
