OSHA's new penalty levels will take effect after August 1:

Any citations issued by OSHA after August 1 will be subject to the new penalties if the related violations occurred after November 2, 2015.

 

In early May, the US Department of Labor (DOL) announced OSHA's Final Rule to "modernize injury data collection to better inform workers, employers, the public, and OSHA about workplace hazards."

 

Under the new rule, employers in high-hazard industries must send OSHA injury and illness data for public posting on the agency's website. (These employers are already required to collect this data.)

 

All establishments with 250 or more employees in industries covered by the record-keeping regulation must electronically submit to OSHA injury and illness information from OSHA Forms 300, 300A, and 301.

Establishments with 20-249 employees in certain industries must electronically submit information from OSHA For 300A only.

 

The new requirements take effect August 10, 2016, with phased-in data submissions beginning in 2017.

These requirements do not add to or change an employer's obligation to complete and retain injury and illness records under the Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses Regulation.

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Over the past few years, "Chinese steel" and its invasion of the US market has caused consternation among both producers and manufacturers. In mid-April, the Office of the US Trade Representative held public hearings where several steel industry leaders spoke against what they believe to be illegal "dumping" of over-supply into the US steel market by China.

 

Subsequent government discussions in early June occurred during the Economic Track of the US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue. In a press release reacting to the outcomes of that dialogue, AISI president and CEO Thomas J. Gibson said, "We appreciate the continued efforts of our government to engage China at the highest levels on the steel overcapacity issue and welcome the new commitments by Chinese leaders to adopt measures to strictly contain steel capacity expansion, reduce net steel capacity, eliminate outdated steel capacity, and dispose of 'zombie enterprises' through restructuring, bankruptcy and liquidation, as appropriate...But these commitments will only be meaningful if they lead to real results that produce a significant net reduction in excess steel capacity in China" 

 

After the meetings, US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said, "While efforts over the past several days cannot resolve our concerns, they do represent real progress." Specifically, China said it would follow through on plans to "shrink" its state-owned steel companies. Secretary Lew explained that China "promised to avoid policies that might encourage steel production growth and to wind down financially moribund 'zombie companies" and that "Chinese officials also agreed to cooperate in a possible global steel forum to discuss industry issues." China also promised not to "engage in 'competitive devaluations' or use the exchange rate to help China's exporters." Quoted from MSCI's Connecting the Dots, June 13

 

Meanwhile, on June 24, the US International Trade Commission ruled unanimously that imports of corrosion-resistant steel from China, India, Italy, South Korea, and Taiwan have injured US steel producers. The ruling means the US Department of Commerce will soon issue a countervailing duty order on imports of these products from China, India, Italy, and Korea, and anti-dumping duty orders on imports of these products from China, India, Italy, Korea, and Taiwan.  According to Politico's "Morning Trade," the ITC's decision impacts imported products that were valued at $1.8 billion last year. Quoted from MSCI's Connecting the Dots, July 5.

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