While the avowed continuation of stainless imports from ThyssenKrupp Mexinox SA de CV has U.S. stainless mills up in arms, some industry players said they’ve seen little effect from the removal of the duties vs. Mexico.

 

"So far, I’ve been told (by San Luis Potosi, Mexico-based Mexinox) that there’s no effect on anything we purchase," one distributor source said, expressing some surprise at the domestic industry’s appeal of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) decision to remove anti-dumping duties vs. Mexico.

 

Three domestic stainless producers—AK Steel Corp., West Chester, Ohio; Allegheny Ludlum Corp., Pittsburgh; and North American Stainless Inc., Ghent, Ky.—recently filed an appeal with the Court of International Trade (CIT) asking it to declare the ITC removal of anti-dumping duties from Mexico "unlawful" and to remand the matter back to the commission.

 

"There really is no domestic competition for Mexinox" in terms of the volume and the finishes the company provides in certain stainless grades, the distributor said, suggesting that perhaps some domestic producers were looking to move deeper into that market.

 

A market source concurred. "I haven’t heard much talk about it at all," he said.

 

Stainless steel import applications put licenses for Mexico at 6,766 tonnes for September, down from preliminary August imports of 7,825 tonnes, U.S. Census Bureau data show.

 

"In our view, this is a very important appeal because we know from Mexinox’s testimony at the International Trade Commission (ITC) that they plan to continue to export into the United States. We also know they have been dumping their product into the U.S. for many years, and we anticipate that they will continue to do so," David A. Hartquist, attorney at Washington-based law firm Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, representing the domestic producers, said.

 

The anti-dumping duties against Mexico will remain revoked while the appeal is ongoing.

 

There are no statutory deadlines for CIT cases, Hartquist said, meaning the timeline for the appeal is indefinite. "It’ll be in the hands of the judge. And that judge will determine the pace of the appeal, set deadlines for us to be filing documents and, at some point, schedule oral arguments on the case," he added.

 

The scope of the appeal is limited to the findings made at the original hearing at the ITC.

 

"Since that proceeding, things have gotten worse in the marketplace as the recession has lengthened. But none of that can be brought up during litigation," Hartquist said.

 

If the judge were to find in favor of the domestic industry, the decision would likely be sent back to the ITC with comments for another vote. "What happens typically is that the judge will say in a written decision to the commission: ‘I think you got it wrong because you didn’t consider the following,’?" he said.

 

A new vote by the commissioners would then have to be remanded to the judge for a final decision, which can subsequently still be appealed at the Court of Appeals to the Federal Circuit, and finally the Supreme Court, Hartquist said.