WASHINGTON: The United States will not go ahead with planned import duties on specialized steel from Japan, Germany and Poland after the US International Trade Commission found the imports were not harming local industry.

The Department of Commerce had set anti-dumping duties on imports of grain-oriented electrical steel, mainly used in large and medium-sized electrical power transformers, but a ITC vote ends the case.

The decision affects companies including Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp, JFE Steel Corp and Germany's ThyssenKrupp Electrical Steel, a division of ThyssenKrupp AG, all of which had been named in the dispute.

The Japan Steel Information Center, the US-based public affairs lobby of the Japanese steel industry, welcomed the decision, which came after a complaint lodged by AK Steel Corp , Allegheny Ludlum Corp and the United Steelworkers union.

In 2013, imports from Germany were valued at an estimated $4.1 million, from Japan $41.1 million and from Poland $1.9 million, according to US Commerce Department data.