ITC to Evaluate Effectiveness of Terminated Steel Import Relief
The International Trade Commission (ITC) has instituted an investigation entitled, Steel: Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Import Relief, for the purpose of evaluating the effectiveness of relief action that was imposed by the President, and subsequently terminated, on imports of certain steel products.
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According to the ITC, it is required, following termination of a relief action, to evaluate the effectiveness of the action in facilitating positive adjustment by the domestic industry to import competition.
(On March 5, 2002, the President issued Proclamation 7529 which imposed safeguard measures on imports of certain steel products in the form of a tariff-rate quota (TRQ) and increased import duties effective March 20, 2002, which were terminated in advance of their 3 year and 1 day time period. In a related memorandum, the President instructed the Treasury and Commerce Secretaries to establish a system of import licensing to facilitate the monitoring of imports of certain steel products. On December 31, 2002, the International Trade Administration (ITA) published a final rule that established the Steel Import Monitoring and Analysis (SIMA) system.
On December 4, 2003, the President issued Proclamation 7741, which terminated the TRQ and the increased import duties on certain steel products, but directed the Secretary of Commerce to continue the monitoring system until the earlier of March 21, 2005, or such time as the Commerce Secretary establishes a replacement program. On December 9, 2003, the ITA announced that the SIMA system would continue in effect until March 21, 2005. On March 11, 2005, the ITA published an interim final rule to implement a replacement (i.e., revised) SIMA system for the period beyond March 21, 2005.
See ITT's Online Archives 03/15/05 and 03/16/05 news, 05031505 and 05031605, for Parts I and II of BP's summary on the ITA's interim final rule to revise/extend the SIMA system.)
Four Public Hearings Will Be Held in July 2005
The ITC will hold four hearings in Washington, DC in connection with this investigation, as follows (see ITC notice for details on submitting pre-hearing briefs, etc.)
| Date | Product |
| 07/19/05 | Carbon and alloy flat products |
| 07/21/05 | Carbon and alloy long products |
| 07/26/05 | Carbon and alloy tubular products |
| 07/28/05 | Stainless steel products |
- ITC must submit its report to the President and Congress no later than 180 days after March 21, 2005, the day on which the relief action was terminated.
ITC contact - Elizabeth Haines (202) 205-3200
ITC notice (Inv. No. TA-204-12, FR Pub 04/04/05) available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20051800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2005/pdf/E5-1483.pdf