US Steel files trade complaint against big Chinese producers

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

United States Steel Corp. has filed a complaint with U.S. regulators against the biggest Chinese steel producers, accusing them of conspiring to fix prices, stealing trade secrets and skirting duties on imports in the U.S. with false labeling.

The big steelmaker is alleging illegal unfair competition by the Chinese producers and their distributors, and is seeking “the exclusion of all unfairly traded Chinese steel products from the U.S. market.”

U.S. Steel announced Tuesday that it lodged the complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission. Normally, the independent federal agency decides within 30 days whether or not to act. The case would go before an administrative law judge at the agency if it decides to proceed.

Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel brought the complaint under a section of the Depression-era Tariff Act, which empowers the U.S. government to bar imports deemed to be anti-competitive. The provision has mostly been used against perceived violations of intellectual property rights.