Steel Imports

Here is how members of Maryland's delegation on Capitol Hill were recorded on important roll-call votes recently: Y: Yes N: No X: Not voting House: American flag Voting 305 for and 124 against, the House on Thursday achieved the two-thirds majority needed to pass a constitutional amendment [HJ Res 33] giving Congress and the states power to outlaw the physical desecration of the American flag. A yes vote was to amend the Bill of Rights to outlaw desecration of the American flag.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration exempted yesterday 295 steel products from import tariffs levied a year ago, including wine-barrel strips for Illinois Tool Works Inc. and zinc-coated sheets that Sharp Corp. uses to make microwave ovens. The exclusions, which producers estimate represent 360,000 tons of imports, bring to 995 the products exempted from duties that are as high as 24 percent. A quarter of the 13 million tons of steel imports originally covered by the tariffs imposed by President Bush in March last year had been exempted in subsequent months, according to the Commerce Department.

The port of Baltimore stands a good chance of becoming the principal port on the East Coast for the shipment of steel, a railroad executive said yesterday.David J. Pope, director of international sales for CSX Transportation Inc., said that steel imports that have been moving to the Midwest via the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence Seaway might shift to East Coast ports. That creates the opportunity for an East Coast port to become a "load center" for shipments. And Baltimore is in "a good position" to become that load center, he said.

Reflecting the growing competitiveness of its product, Bethlehem Steel Corp. finished loading yesterday 5,500 tons of steel coils on a ship headed for its traditional antagonist -- Japan.The shipment is the first steel sold to a Japanese company from Sparrows Point's hot strip mill, which recently underwent a $200 million modernization. The changes have improved the quality of the steel and made its price more competitive, Bethlehem spokesman G. Ted Baldwin said.The shipment comes shortly after the expiration of quotas on foreign steel imports, a move many U.S. steel companies fear will hurt their business.

CLEVELAND - LTV Corp., the No. 3 U.S. steelmaker, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection yesterday for the second time in 14 years, yet avoided a total shutdown and the loss of 18,000 jobs by getting a last-minute loan. The financing came from Chase Manhattan Corp., said Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat from Cleveland, where LTV has two steel mills. Kucinich said the agreement allows the company to use accounts receivable for operating expenses for about two weeks. The company has said it needed $225 million.

WASHINGTON -- The Commerce Department tentatively ruled yesterday that several foreign steel companies were selling some types of bars and pipes in the United States at unfairly low prices or with unfair subsidies and moved to impose punitive customs duties on these imports.The rulings involve narrowly defined categories of pipes and bars. Imports in these cases totaled $314.5 million last year. The decisions are important mainly for the precedents they set for the Commerce Department's consideration this winter of 72 legal cases filed by U.S. steel producers June 30 against flat-rolled and plate steel imports from four dozen countries.

WASHINGTON -- Now that Big Steel has foreign imports on the run with successful trade litigation, it doesn't want the government to mess it up by making a deal with other countries."

As hard times in the steel industry drag on and cash reserves shrink, Bethlehem Steel Corp. is still trying to renegotiate the terms of its current loans and at the same time secure new lines of credit. The Pennsylvania-based company said yesterday that it is trying to win a waiver that would free it from the terms of its current credit-line covenant, which requires the steel maker to maintain a certain tangible net worth. When the company, which employs close to 4,000 people at its Sparrows Point plant in Baltimore County, reported its first-quarter results in April, it said it exceeded the requirement by $13 million.

In the Region Black & Decker says battery maker infringed on patents Black & Decker Corp. is suing a Dallas company, alleging that it infringed on two of the Towson company's patents for power supplies for cordless products. The suit, filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Wilmington, Del., accuses Interstate Battery System International Inc. of "importing, manufacturing, using, selling and offering for sale rechargeable replacement batteries for the DeWalt-brand cordless power tool products."

TOKYO - Japan said yesterday that it may retaliate against the United States for tariffs on steel imports, escalating a trade dispute that's embroiled the world's biggest economies. Takeo Hiranuma, Japan's Minister for Trade and Industry, threatened to retaliate against the tariffs unless Japan is compensated for lost markets through the World Trade Organization. Japan is mired in its 17th month of recession and under pressure to defend its exports. A drop in steel prices to 20-year lows saddled its top five steel- makers with losses of 244 billion yen ($1.9 billion)