The action apparently represents the first time Japanese firms have accused an American firm with dumping, although in the past charges have been filed against firms headquartered elsewhere. Those cases were resolved bilaterally without the dumping investigation and penalty provisions running their full course. That may happen this time as well. Steel makers' complaints about imports from Japan and other nations have received a sympathetic response this year from Capitol Hill. At this juncture, such a linkage appears unlikely, because the Japanese complaint lacks credibility.
Japan has a very limited track record in the pursuit of dumping cases.
Moreover, the Japanese petrochemical industry's chronic lack of competitiveness is widely known. Finally, the U.S. steel market is far larger than that for acrylonitrile. At a minimum, however, the parallel developments in Japanese petrochemicals and American steel suggest that trade tensions could be rising in response to unsettled international economic conditions.