Home | China | World | Business U.S. Trade Panel Orders Punitive Duties on Steel Bar Imports THU, FEB 21, 2002     The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled Wednesday that the U.S. steel industry is materially injured by imports of stainless steel bars from five countries, which will lead to punitive duties on the imports. All ITC's five commissioners voted to impose punitive duties on steel bar imports from France, Germany, Italy, South Korea and Britain, the ITC said in a statement. "As a result of the commission's affirmative determinations, the U.S. Department of Commerce will issue a countervailing duty order on certain imports of this product from Italy and anti-dumping duty orders on certain imports of this product from France, Germany, Italy, Korea, and the United Kingdom," the ITC statement said. The ITC said imports accounted for about 292 million U.S. dollars worth of the 888 million dollar market for steel bars in 2000. The ITC statement did not include details of the duties, but an industry spokesman said the anti-dumping duties would be as much as 126 percent and that importers will have to pay a countervailing duty of 13 percent on some imports from Italy, which was charged with providing extensive government subsidies toits stainless steel bar producers. Editor:Hope CCTV.com Recommend to your friend email:    China Central Television,All Rights Reserved