Allegheny Technologies seeks exemption from steel tariffs

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Allegheny Technologies said Tuesday it is asking that stainless steel slabs it plans to import from Indonesia not be subject to the 25 percent tariffs that President Donald Trump has ordered on steel imports.

The Pittsburgh specialty metals producer and its Chinese joint venture partner plan to process the slabs at Allegheny Technologies plants in Brackenridge and Midland, work that will create up to 100 jobs.

The company said there are no U.S. steel producers that supply the slabs the joint venture needs.

“We are confident our recently filed tariff exclusion request clearly satisfies the Commerce Department’s stated criteria,” chairman, president and CEO Rich Harshman said in a statement.

Mr. Trump imposed the steel tariffs, as well as 10 percent penalties on aluminum imports, last Friday after concluding the metals imports jeopardize national security.

Imports from Canada, Mexico, the European Union, South Korea, Australia, Argentina and Brazil have been temporarily excluded from the penalties. Those countries accounted for more than half of the 34.6 million metric tons of steel the U.S. imported last year, according to the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Allegheny Technologies announced the joint venture with Tsingshan Group, the world’s largest stainless steel producer, in November. The 50-50 venture received regulatory approvals earlier this year. Tsingshan, a privately owned Chinese company, also operates nickel ore mines. Nickel is a key ingredient in stainless steel.

Mr. Harshman said the joint venture will supply products “for critical U.S. defense applications.”

NLMK, a Russian steelmaker that imports slabs that it processes at mills in Sharon and Farrell, said last week it also intends to ask that its imports not be subject to the penalties. The Mercer County plants employ about 800.

Companies have 30 days to object to exclusion requests. The Commerce Department said it will make a decision on such requests within 90 days.

Bloomberg Intelligence recently reported that the Commerce Department expects about 4,500 exclusion requests will be filed. Automakers, brewers, and energy companies are among those expected to ask that the penalties not apply to imports they use, the news organization reported.