NZ Steel applauds ruling that US trade tariffs illegal

By ELLEN READ

New Zealand's largest steel producer has joined the Government in welcoming a World Trade Organisation ruling that United States steel tariffs are illegal.

The United States imposed tariffs of up to 30 per cent on certain steel imports in March last year, saying it needed to give its ailing domestic industry three years' breathing space after a flood of imports.

New Zealand - which exports about $60 million of finished steel to the US, almost all from the NZ Steel mill in Glenbrook - was one of 22 countries to complain.

A WTO panel has ruled the tariffs violated global trade agreements and must be removed. The decision allows complainants to impose retaliatory tariffs until the US complies.

The 15-member EU said it would strike back next month with the first of up to US$2.2 billion ($3.5 billion) of tariff reprisals on US imports, including textiles, cigarettes and steel.

Trade Minister Jim Sutton's office said the Government was considering its options.

Yesterday, a NZ Steel spokeswoman said that while the company exported only a small amount of steel to the US it would welcome the removal of tariffs.

"[We] have sought to minimise the impacts of the US tariffs on our business by placing that steel into other markets," she said.


Sutton said the ruling vindicated New Zealand's opposition to the tariffs.