First Aluminum, Now Steel

Well, the Chinese are finally being investigated for something they have been doing for over a year - dumping cheap metals in the U.S by going through other countries to mask the source.  Several news sources like Nasdaq and the Wall Street Journal had articles on the latest with Vietnamese steel being dumped into the US to avoid sanctions and tariffs put on for doing previous dumping.  [both of these articles are by John Miller but they cover different aspects]. The amazing part of this is the length of time between the dumping and the action by the Commerce Department, over a year.  They only did something when it became obvious that Vietnam had increased its exports from 36,000 to 556,000 tons.  Somewhere along the way you would think that kind of  would stand out enough for someone to notice long before the year was up.

There is a complication to this that made then hesitate, since Vietnam was actually treating the steel to make it more corrosion resistant, something normally done when it is made.  Totally transparent.  The Vietnam Steel Associasion says they are cutting back on steel igot sales because boron and chromium have been found in some of them.  They claim to not be importing that much cold-rolled steel but the numbers are there for everyone to see.  And, of course, Vietnam is now our friend and we have to be nice to them since President Obama made his visit there this year.

Now, think about this a little.  China produces steel so cheaply that it can afford to ship it to Vietnam, treat it and transship it to the U.S and still make money....  that is cheap steel.  Of course, Vietnam is cooperating in this ruse, and knows the deal with China is good for them too.  Our Commerce Department needs to move faster for our own protection.  While they are doing it, let's do some checking for boron and chromium in our ingot steel imports.  That could be a health risk we don't need.