Visclosky Applauds International Trade Commission Decision to Continue Policies That Stop Unfair Trade

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Pete Visclosky today applauded the decision of the International Trade Commission (ITC) to continue the anti-dumping and countervailing duties on unfairly traded steel imports from Brazil, Japan and Russia.  The program was implemented after a flood of hot-rolled steel from these countries decimated the U.S. market in 1998.

“The continuation of theses policies is good news for the U.S. steel industry, the local economy and our national security,” said Visclosky. “I applaud the International Trade Commission for making the right decision to protect the steel industry from unfair trading practices.”

By continuing this trade relief, the Department of Commerce will continue to have a tool to monitor unfairly traded imports of hot-rolled steel from Brazil, Japan and Russia. Had the trade relief been terminated, the U.S. market could have been flooded with hot-rolled steel, as there would be no monitoring system in place.

On March 2, 2005, Congressman Visclosky testified before the ITC in support of continuing these policies, which also have the support of the steel industry’s labor and management.  In his testimony before the ITC, Congressman Visclosky made the case to protect the American steel market by continuing the trade policies that keep illegally dumped steel and steel manufactured with massive government subsidies from entering the United States.

“As we are now presented with the question as to whether the import relief should be continued, the answer is an unequivocal yes,” said Visclosky in his testimony.  “We must maintain fair conditions of trade as the continued survival of the industry is vital to our national security interests, to protection of the jobs that still remain, and to continued funding of trusts to provide retirees with some benefits to address their medical needs.”