Domestic steel producers have filed new anti-dumping petitions against eight countries, charging them with unfairly subsidizing steel exports into the US. Also, the Senate Energy Committee has advanced a bill that would lift the 40-year US oil export ban but it faces a tough road with the full Senate.

Domestic Producers File New Steel Anti-Dumping Cases

AK Steel Corp., ArcelorMittal USA LLC, Nucor Corp., Steel Dynamics, Inc., and U.S. Steel Corp.  filed petitions recently with the Department of Commerce  and the US International Trade Commission charging that unfairly-traded imports of cold-rolled steel flat products from Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Netherlands, Russia and the United Kingdom are causing material injury to the domestic industry.

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The petitions allege that producers in each of the eight countries are dumping cold-rolled steel in the US market at substantial margins, all above 42% government subsidy.

Bill to Lift US Oil Export Ban Advances

The US Senate Energy Committee on Thursday narrowly passed a bill to lift a 40-year-old ban on the export of crude oil, but the measure faces an uphill battle in getting passed by the full Senate, Reuters reported. The bill would allow the US to export oil and boost state revenue-sharing for offshore oil and gas drilling. It passed along party lines by a vote of 12-10.

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