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US says EU, Japan get most of steel exclusions

WASHINGTON, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Steel exporters in the European Union and Japan are the main foreign beneficiaries of the Bush administration's decision to exclude certain products from hefty U.S. steel tariffs imposed earlier this year, trade officials said on Thursday.

In a conference call with reporters, the U.S. trade officials were not immediately able to give an estimate of the amount of tonnage covered by the latest batch of 178 steel product exclusions announced earlier in the day.

But they said EU and Japanese suppliers received the "overwhelming majority" of the 727 product exclusions announced since March, when Bush imposed the tariffs ranging from 8 percent to 30 percent to help the U.S. steel industry restructure.

A steel-consuming industry aide, who asked not to be identified, said EU steel producers appeared to have been granted a large number of exclusions in the seventh and final batch for 2002.

The U.S. trade officials, who also spoke on condition that they not be identified, confirmed the latest exclusions included a request by automaker DaimlerChrysler for corrosion resistant steel.

(Doug Palmer, Washington newsroom + 1 202 898 8341 fax + 1 202 898 8383, [email protected]))