Bloomberg reported that US Supreme Court turned away two steel industry appeals that challenged the method used by federal officials to calculate the duties imposed when imports are sold in the US at less than their fair value.

The justices rejected appeals by Nucor Corporation and US Steel Corporation, leaving intact a lower court ruling that upheld the Commerce Department formula in a dispute over steel duties. The department adopted its approach after the World Trade Organization said an earlier US methodology, known as zeroing, violated global trade regulations.

Nucor and US Steel said the new method didn't go far enough to address dumping, the practice of selling goods in another country at a loss. Trade groups representing the US lumber and shrimp industries backed the appeal.

The Commerce Department determines duties by comparing the price of a product in the US with the price in the exporter's domestic market. Zeroing excluded some market data in that calculation in a way that led to higher duties.

(Sourced from www.bloomberg.net)