Monitoring of steel imports to continue

Malia Rulon

Thursday, March 10, 2005 | 9:17 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Responding to pleas from lawmakers and the steel industry, the Commerce Department announced Wednesday it will extend a program that monitors how much foreign steel is imported into the United States.

The Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis System was established in 2003 as part of President Bush's program that imposed tariffs on low-priced steel imports. At the time, the imports were flooding the market and contributing to the industry's financial woes.

The tariffs ended last year, but Bush left the steel monitoring program in place. It was to expire March 20.

"This is very good news," said Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, one of 25 lawmakers who wrote to new Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez, asking that the program be extended. "Import monitoring in the steel sector is absolutely critical if the domestic industry is to avoid another devastating surge of unfairly traded imports," he said Wednesday.

The steel dumping started in the late 1990s, prompting more than 40 U.S. steel companies to file for bankruptcy protection. Since then, the industry has rebounded and consolidated. In 2004, the industry turned its first profit in years.

Bill Klinefelter, legislative director for the United Steelworkers of America union, said Wednesday's decision to continue the program reflects concern about the possibility of a sudden surge of imported steel.

"The more that China dominates the global steel markets, with the possibility of severe fluctuations, the more the U.S. has to be on its guard in its efforts to preserve American steel," Klinefelter said.

A Commerce Department notice said the program would be continued until March 2009 and expanded to include more than 30 additional basic steel mill products, including wire rod, heavy structural beams, oil country tubular goods, and stainless steel sheet and strip. Previously, the program only included steel products named in the 2003 tariffs.