Lack of enforcement Of Cuban embargo hurting US domestic industry - SSINA

Lack of enforcement Of Cuban embargo hurting US domestic industry - SSINA

In a written statement submitted to the Committee on Ways and Means of
the US House of Representatives, the Specialty Steel Industry of North
America encouraged stricter enforcement of the US regulations on trade
with Cuba, particularly with respect to China.

Over the past six years, China has invested heavily in Cuba's nickel
development and, according to official trade data, China is now
absorbing the overwhelming majority of Cuba's nickel production.

Since the principal end use of nickel is the production of stainless
steel and China is among the largest offshore suppliers of stainless
steel to the United States, SSINA believes that stainless steel
containing Cuban nickel has been imported into the US from China, in
violation of the US trade embargo against Cuba.

While Cuba is the largest nickel producing country in the world, the
Cuban Assets Control Regulations prohibit US manufacturers from sourcing
nickel from Cuba. The embargo prohibits the importation of merchandise
from third countries that is made or derived in whole or in part of any
article which is the growth, produce or manufacture of Cuba. The embargo
specifically covers the importation of nickel-bearing materials.

The US Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, under
the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, has the authority to require that
importers of stainless steel certify the origin of the nickel in their
products to confirm their compliance with the embargo. OFAC has utilized
that authority on previous occasions when it suspected that imports of
stainless steel might contain Cuban nickel.

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