Steel industry consolidation has put domestic producers in the driver's seat and has sent U.S. automakers to Washington looking for relief.

The consolidation has left the nation's automakers with only four domestic sources for the high grade, corrosion-resistant steel they use to build their car doors, roofs, body panels and hoods: U.S. Steel Corp., Mittal Steel USA, AK Steel Corp. and Severstal North America, said Mustafa Mohatarem, General Motors Corp.'s chief economist.

"We want discipline in the market," he said. "Now when we sit across from steel producers, they know there's no competition. GM sources 90 percent of its steel from the U.S. market. We want to restore competition in the U.S. market."

That competition, which virtually ended with the bankruptcy of some of the nation's largest steelmakers -- could come from imports if the automakers and other users of the corrosion-resistant steel are successful in their quest to have the International Trade Commission drop the duties originally imposed on the steel in 1993.

GM, Ford and DaimlerChrysler, plus the domestic arms of Toyota, Honda and Nissan have banned together to fight the duties currently up for review.

The commission will begin hearings Tuesday on the five-year review of antidumping and countervailing duty orders on the steel from Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Korea that is used by the automakers as well as in the production of machinery.

The orders were enacted 13 year ago and renewed in 2001 after the ITC found the steelmakers and shippers in those countries had been "dumping" the product at prices lower than the cost of production. The countries can continue to ship the steel into the market if it is priced competitively.

The ITC's review will determine if revocation of the antidumping and countervailing duty orders likely would "lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time." If so, the commission will let the orders stand for another five years. If not, they will be revoked.

The automakers claim steel prices are at record highs, the steel companies are making money and the steel companies don't need the duties to stay healthy.

The steel producers want the duties to remain, saying their expiration could cause a flood of the steel to be dumped into the U.S. market as it had been in the past.

The automakers scoff at the assertion.

"There isn't a lot of capacity worldwide," Mohatarem said.

Steel analyst Charles Bradford also said the global supply of corrosion-resistant steel is very limited.

"There aren't a lot of people making the product, and it's relatively scarce," said Bradford, president of New York-based Bradford Research. "There are only limited places where its available."

The light-gauge, corrosion resistant steel is made by Arcelor in France, but Arcelor's recent merger with Mittal Steel Co. NV makes it unlikely the French arm of Arcelor Mittal would compete with Mittal USA for the business, Bradford said. Plus, Japan barely produces enough to supply that country's Toyota plants, he said.

"The steel companies got come pretty big steel increases in auto contract for '07, and now it seems the automakers are doing a 'tit for a tat,' " Bradford said. "You got us, now we're going to get you."

The steelmakers won increases on the steel of 10 percent or more, he said.

"They're playing catch-up," Bradford said. "The steel guys regret the three-year contracts they made before because, since then, there have been big increases in steel prices and they never benefited from them."

The revocation of the duties, which range from 10 percent to 30 percent, eventually could bring more imports, Mohatarem said. Although there's not much capacity out there and there won't be immediate competition, dropping the duties opens the possibility of more capacity, Mohatarem said.

"That's the key point," he said. "The way the U.S. implements import duties makes people reluctant to supply the market. They don't know what the duties will be, they'd be taking on an unknown liability. Companies are unwilling to take that risk, especially if they're thinking about building a plant and they're depending on the U.S. market."

Terry Straub, U.S. Steel Corp.'s vice president for public policy and governmental affairs, said although he hasn't surveyed the global market, he doesn't agree there is no competition available. And he said lifting the tariffs would return dumped corrosion-resistant steel on U.S. shores.

"There is competition, and his (Mohatarem) proposition on its face is absurd," Straub said. "China is importing this type of steel, but eventually it will filter into this type of product. Russia, Brazil all want to bring this type of steel into the market. The duties do not prevent anyone from buying products where they are fairly traded."

Automakers should look at their costs, he said. The troubled U.S. automakers have said the cost of employee health care and liability, plus currency manipulation, have been the root of their problems rather than the cost of steel, Straub said. The average $30,000 vehicle contains only $400 worth of the steel in question.

But Mohatarem said every cost is important to automakers' financial health and continuing operations.

"Steel is the second-largest cost after health care," he said. "You can say $400 is not so big, but you have to tackle each element of cost structure. When you multiple $400 per car times 15 million cars, it's is a huge number."

Under the current contracts, the cost of the steel has increased $80 to $100," he said. "Despite all the restructuring the auto companies are doing, this has the potential to wipe that out."

Ed Lewis, Toyota spokesman, said his company -- the nation's most profitable -- has joined other automakers in their quest to get the duties terminated.

"We're concerned that continuation of the tariff will affect the steady, reliable source of new steel needed for the vehicles that will be made in new auto assembly plants being built in the U.S., " Lewis said. "Trade protection creates shortages, high prices, uncertainty and instability in the U.S. market."