US steelmakers have applauded the Department of Commerce (DOC)’s decision to revoke the “suspension agreement” with Russia, which has prevented the imposition of antidumping duties on US imports of hot rolled coil from that country.

“This agreement, which was entered into 15 years ago, was designed for a different era and is clearly no longer working,” says American Iron and Steel Institute president Thomas Gibson in a release seen by Kallanish. “Our industry should not have to endure injury from surging imports of Russian hot-rolled steel that are coming into this country under a deal that no longer serves its intended purpose.”

The agreement had sheltered Russian steelmakers from anti-dumping duties on HRC, instead of setting a 1 million tonnes/year cap on Russia-origin steel imports and a minimum price. In a submission to DOC in July, however, various US producers said the agreement had failed to prevent Russian suppliers from undercutting local prices or flooding the market.

Total US carbon steel imports from Russia ballooned over three-fold in August and the first eight-months of the year to 377,722t and 2.75mt respectively, according to the US Census Bureau.