Interestingly, while staff from the Commerce Department have been involved extensively in the construction of the American Trade Consortium umbrella agreement, the U.S. national security community has been totally excluded from its review -- despite the obvious potential implications for U.S. foreign and defense interests that might arise from such an undertaking.
The agreement, signed in 2004, committed the consortium of Marcegaglia SpA, Dongkuk Steel Mills Co Ltd, Duferco Participations Holding Ltd and Alvory SA, to buy just under 78% of the plant's production for 10 years.