Four major U.S. steelmakers, including leading producer USX Corp., filed a dumping complaint Friday against imports of cold-rolled steel from Japan and other countries despite the U.S. government's dismissal of a similar petition last year.

Dumped and heavily subsidized imports of cold-rolled steel products "have had a disastrous effect on prices, resulting in enormous financial losses, significant production cutbacks and the elimination of thousands of American steelworkers' jobs," USX, Bethlehem Steel Corp., LTV Steel Co. and National Steel Corp. said in a statement.

The antidumping suit targets products from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela.

The four U.S. steelmakers said cold-rolled products from the 20 exporters cited in the complaint have increased by 38 percent since 2000, representing more than 80 percent of overall cold-rolled steel imports. The petition shows antidumping margins as high as 150 percent and subsidy margins of more than 40 percent, they said.