The chairman of the Iron and Steel Federation of Japan said Thursday the industry will take steps toward a complaint with the World Trade Organization if Washington imposes sanctions and unilateral restrictions in its steel imports.
Akira Chihaya said during a speech at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan that the industry is ready to press Tokyo into filing the complaint with the global watchdog.
He said that the U.S. steel industry has not been hurt by increased imports of Japanese steel, adding that the shipments were in line with boosted demand, citing "the longer than expected strike" at General Motors last summer as a reason for the decline in domestic steel demand and price drops in the U.S.