U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) recently sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross requesting that the U.S. Department of Commerce grant Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI) relief from tariffs by approving its Section 232 exclusion applications.
ATI has said that it may need to close its plant in Midland, Pa., if not granted an exemption to the tariffs.
Toomey said in the letter that steel and aluminum tariffs have cost ATI more than $30 million since March 2018 and could result in the loss of hundreds of jobs in Pennsylvania.
“As a result of paying the punitive tariffs, ATI has been forced to operate certain facilities at unsustainable levels,” Toomey said in the letter. “I am concerned that if ATI’s exclusion requests are denied or decisions are not made until early this spring, ATI may be forced to announce the closure of the Midland mill, which would directly eliminate 100 jobs and impact another 200 outside jobs that support the mill.”
The Commerce Department rejected ATI’s first request for exclusion. The company has applied again.