Fortunes of domestic producers of carbon and alloy tubular pipe and fittings have improved a little since the controversial section 203 steel tariffs were enacted in March 2002, but not much. Moreover, it's unclear how much, if any, of the slight improvement can be attributed to the 203 remedies.
These conclusions can be drawn from the International Trade Commission's “Steel Monitoring Developments In The Domestic Industry” report in September 2003. As shown in the adjacent chart, imports declined from 42.7% of U.S consumption in the year before the tariffs were imposed to 37.1% in the following year. Note, however, that imports from “noncovered sources,” i.e., nations excluded from the 203 tariffs for various reasons, increased significantly. Meantime, U.S. production increased just a bit in tonnage while capacity utilization continued to drop.