Steel importers ask Supreme Court to hear 232 case

Steel importers are asking the US Supreme Court to consider its case against the constitutionality of Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs.

Steel import trade group American Institute for International Steel (AIIS), Texas-based oil country tubular goods (OCTG) supplier Sim-Tex and California-based steel importer Kurt Orban Partners petitioned the Supreme Court on 15 April after a three-judge panel with the US Court of International Trade ruled in March that the 25pc steel and 10pc aluminum import tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration in March 2018 were constitutional.

The move by AIIS would bypass a three-judge panel with the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which the writ calls an "unnecessary and ultimately inconclusive step." A response is due by 17 May.

The tariffs were imposed under Section 232 to protect industries vital for national defense such as domestic steel and aluminum production.

The petitioners want the Section 232 tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump to be ruled unconstitutional and overturned, ruling that the power Trump has tried to wield is in the legislative branch, not the executive. AIIS' board of directors includes BlueScope Steel Americas, Medtrade and Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal USA.

Taking into account the effect of the steel tariffs, total steel imports were down by 11.3pc to 33.7mn st, down from the 38mn st imported in 2017. The 2018 figures came in 2.1pc higher than 2016.

The three-judge panel said a 1976 ruling in Federal Energy Administration v. Algonquin SNG had set the standards for using Section 232. The ruling drew the support of steel industry advocates like the American Iron and Steel Institute, which represents domestic steel producers that benefited from higher prices in 2018after the steel tariffs were imposed.