Middletown Journal – United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk and Sen. Sherrod Brown on Friday applauded a World Trade Organization panel decision that China improperly imposed duties on grain-oriented flat-rolled electrical steel from the United States.

The United States complained in 2010 after China argued that U.S. “Buy America” provisions included in the 2009 economic stimulus bill acted as a subsidy, then imposed duties on the steel products. The products are produced in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Among the companies impacted by the duties were AK Steel in Butler County.