Final Thoughts

Two more days and we will all (I hope) be able to breathe once again. This is the last Sunday before the election here in the United States when we will decide who will be President and, just as important, who will control the House and Senate. The world is watching so I hope that every one of our readers who is registered to vote does vote – even if you have to hold your nose as you pull the lever (or in the case of where I am in Florida, blacken the desired circle).

The Wall Street Journal reported today that the US Department of Commerce is going to move ahead with the circumvention investigation requested by the domestic steel mills. This will be an interesting investigation and could alter the way steel origination is found in the future. Right now, prior to any changes, rolling HR to CR or applying zinc to the surface of steel qualifies as “significant transformation” and changes the country of origin. The domestic mills are asking for that understanding to be abandoned in the belief that the Chinese are using Vietnam to evade (circumvent) the duties leveled against them by the U.S. Department of Commerce.