FORTY US STEEL COMPANIES IN BANKRUPTCY - US Could Be Fined For Violating World Trade Agreements

(11/26/2003)

The US may be fined by its trading partners over tariffs placed on importing their steel. There have been 40 steel bankruptcies since 1997, including both of West Virginia's major steel producers -- Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel and Weirton Steel. Tariffs have been placed on imported steel to try and save the American steel industry. However, the industry is subject to the world trade agreements signed by the US government, and Japan is threatening to impose $85 million dollars on American imports unless the US removes restrictive duties. The World Trade Organization has declared the US tariffs unfair. The steel industry says the imports have been unfair, flooding steel on the world market at less than wholesale price. Earlier, the European Union threatened more than $2 billion dollars in retaliatory sanctions.

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