In a statement, the company said its A&T Stainless joint venture, which operates the plant, had no choice. 

“Since March 2018, we have sought unsuccessfully to obtain a tariff exclusion, with our latest request still unanswered by the Department of Commerce. While we firmly believe we meet the criteria for an exclusion, we cannot wait any longer. Without a tariff exclusion, we have no choice but to idle the Midland operations,” said Robert S. Wetherbee, ATI president and chief executive. 

ATI’s 50-50 joint venture imports semi-finished stainless slab from Indonesia and rolls it into 60-inch sheet at facilities in Pennsylvania. Creation of the joint venture allowed the Midland facility to reopen after having been idled by ATI. 

ATI said the joint venture has paid more than US$37 million in tariffs since they were imposed in March 2018. 

“The unfortunate impact on these hard-working employees is an unintended consequence of the blunt nature of tariffs. We have no viable alternative to imports, yet have suffered unsustainable losses under this economic policy,” Wetherbee said.