A&T Stainless will idle its Direct Roll Anneal and Pickle operations in Midland by the end of June, Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI) recently announced. ATI owns 50 percent of the company.
The move is in response to Section 232 tariffs that make the business unsustainable, ATI said. Operations will resume if tariff policies change substantially.
“The unfortunate impact on these hard-working employees is an unintended consequence of the blunt nature of tariffs,” Robert S. Wetherbee, ATI president and CEO, said. “We have no viable alternative to imports, yet have suffered unsustainable losses under this economic policy. Since March 2018, we have sought unsuccessfully to obtain a tariff exclusion, with our latest request still unanswered by the Department of Commerce. While we firmly believe we meet the criteria for an exclusion, we cannot wait any longer. Without a tariff exclusion, we have no choice but to idle the Midland operations.”
Section 232 levied a 25 percent tariff on all stainless steel product imports.
A&T Stainless imports semifinished stainless slab products from Indonesia to produce 60-inch-wide stainless sheet products. Since March 2018, it has paid more than $37 million in tariffs.
ATI’s 2019 financial results included $19.3 million of losses for its share of A&T Stainless.