Kelly seeks Section 232 tariff relief for Pennsylvania steel company

U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA) last week requested that the U.S. Commerce Department end federal import tariffs that are costing a Pennsylvania steel producer millions of dollars in tax payments.

Steel producer NLMK USA, which operates plants in Pennsylvania and Indiana, in March 2018 filed tariff exclusion petitions for Section 232 duties for imports of its feedstock. NLMK’s petitions were accepted in April 2018, but no other action has been taken since then.

“In the nearly full year that has passed … NLMK has paid $160.7 million in tariffs, a number that continues to rise with each month,” wrote Rep. Kelly in a March 19 letter sent to U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross that was also signed by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA). 

“We write today to urge you to promptly consider and issue decisions on the Section 232 exclusion petitions filed by NLMK USA,” wrote the members of Congress.

The NLMK steel mills employ nearly 1,170 workers and support almost 8,000 indirect jobs in both states, according to the lawmakers’ letter, which said the company’s production and manufacturing operations “are critical contributors to Pennsylvania’s economy.”

Additionally, NLMK played a key role in putting steelworkers in Sharon, Pa., back to work after the town’s steel mill closed, they wrote.

And prior to the implementation of the Section 232 tariffs, NLMK planned a $600 million facilities upgrade that included a roughly $100 million investment in its Farrell, Pa., facility, wrote Sen. Kelly and his colleague. 

“These plans are now on hold because of uncertainty in the market and — as it continues to await consideration of its exclusion petitions — in slab supply caused by the tariffs,” according to their letter. 

NLMK’s feedstock are slabs weighing 20 tons to 25 tons that are sporadically available in limited quantities in the United States, according to the lawmakers’ letter, which pointed out that “imported slabs have no use except as feedstock for steel producers like NLMK.” 

Sen. Kelly and his colleague urged Secretary Ross “to give NLMK’s exclusion petitions prompt, full and fair consideration.”