U.S. in Talks With Steel Exporters on Caps

The United States is discussing with Japan, Russia and other major steel exporters a range of measures to halt a rising tide of shipments to the U.S., including caps on imports, Clinton administration officials said. The administration, under pressure from Congress, the steel industry and unions to do something about the 50%-plus surge in cheap imports in recent months, raised the specter of “voluntary restraints.” That’s a legal term used to distinguish negotiated import caps from import quotas, which usually violate World Trade Organization rules. The Commerce Department already is weighing an anti-dumping suit filed by the U.S. steel industry against exporters in Japan, Russia and Brazil. “One of the things [Commerce officials have] in their power . . . is voluntary suspensions or voluntary restraints,” White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said. “There has been some interest expressed in pursuing voluntary restraints in some of the countries they’re talking to, but . . . no final decision has been made.”