Visclosky Testifies at International Trade Commission Hearing on Cold-Rolled Steel Products – Presents Congressional Steel Caucus Letter with 80 Signatures
Washington, DC – Today, Congressman Pete Visclosky testified at the International Trade Commission (ITC) hearing on cold-rolled steel products, which are manufactured in Northwest Indiana. During his testimony, Congressman Visclosky presented a Congressional Steel Caucus letter with 80 signatures.
Congressman Visclosky stated, “Congress took bipartisan action last year to improve our trade laws, and we will not now complacently watch to see what happens next. The trade cases currently before the International Trade Commission are the front line in the battle against illegal steel imports. The Congressional Steel Caucus will continue to fight every day to make sure that the ITC and all of the executive branch trade agencies aggressively enforce our trade laws and hear the valiant voices of the American steel industry and steelworkers.”
Chairman Murphy stated, “This past year, the Congressional Steel Caucus shepherded historic trade enforcement legislation and opened new markets to American-made steel products. The legislation is in place, the International Trade Commission has the tools at their disposal, but now they must take action to hold foreign competitors accountable and protect American jobs. I implore Chairman Broadbent to aggressively investigate the numerous trade cases at hand and utilize the tools Congress has supplied her to the fullest extent.”
Below is the text of Congressman Visclosky’s testimony, as prepared for delivery.
I would like to thank Chairman Broadbent, Vice Chairman Pinkert, all of the members of the Commission, and the dedicated staff, for all your work to protect American steel companies and steelworkers from the dangerous trading practices of foreign competitors.
I also would like to thank you for your efforts to utilize the new trade enforcement tools established under P.L. 114-27, the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, which Congress approved and President Obama signed into law last year. I believe that this law received bipartisan support and prioritization from Congressional leadership because of our understanding of the severity of the import crisis currently facing American manufacturers and the American steel industry.
One of the primary priorities of the Congressional Steel Caucus today and in the coming months will be to ensure that these new provisions and all of our trade law statutes are enforced to their fullest extent. This is exhibited by the 80 Members of Congress who signed a Congressional Steel Caucus letter drafted by myself and Chairman Tim Murphy. This letter addressed to each of you highlights that in 2015, foreign steel imports took a record 29 percent share of the domestic steel market, American steel mills shipped 12 percent fewer tons of steel than in 2014, and over 13,500 employees were laid off. This is unacceptable. The letter notes that U.S. trade enforcement laws provide the means by which the American steel industry can mitigate the harm inflicted by illegally traded foreign imports, and that in order for the industry and its workers to obtain full and effective relief, the ITC must aggressively enforce the law.
On behalf of Chairman Murphy and all of the Steel Caucus signatories, I present this letter to you today during the consideration of the case involving cold-rolled steel products, but I would stress that the importance of your work extends to all of the cases involving the steel industry that are currently under investigation. By our count, today’s case is one of but eight critical investigations involving steel products, and this does not include U.S. Steel’s Section 337 investigation.
As you move forward in your investigation of this case involving cold-rolled steel and the other steel cases, I and all of the persistent and diligent steelworkers and their families, in Northwest Indiana and across our country, will carefully be watching your actions to enforce our trade laws and stop the surge of steel imports.
I thank you for the opportunity to testify and again appreciate your thorough investigation of the facts of this case.
Below are the text of the Congressional Steel Caucus letter and a PDF of the signed version.
Dear Commissioners:
We write today as Members of the Congressional Steel Caucus to encourage you to fully utilize all of the trade enforcement tools provided to you by Congress to address the illegal trade practices of foreign steel producers.
We are concerned by the surge of illegally traded imports that are crippling the American steel industry. Year-end import data for 2015 clearly reflects the severity of the crisis: foreign steel imports took a record 29 percent share of the domestic steel market which resulted in American steel mills reaching only 70 percent capacity utilization. Imports of other steel products were even higher, with imports capturing 44 percent of the pipe and tube market. In 2015, American steel mills shipped 12 percent fewer tons of steel than in 2014, and a number of mills were forced to shut down operations and lay off over 13,500 employees. Across the board and in nearly every sector, excessive levels of imports are leading to plant shutdowns, worker dislocation, and economic losses across the nation.
We believe that American steelworkers make the best steel in the world, and we have an obligation to ensure that the American steel industry is able to compete on a level playing field and meet the demands of our nation’s infrastructure, defense, transportation, agriculture, and energy sectors.
Congress has acted by recently passing critical bipartisan legislation that provides the International Trade Commission (ITC) with enhanced tools to combat illegal trade practices. Specifically, Congress passed the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-27), which made important improvements to U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws. One such improvement provides the ITC with additional factors it may evaluate when considering injury to the domestic industry.
We urge you to fully utilize the tools provided under P.L. 114-27 and under all of our trade enforcement laws when investigating the following pending steel industry trade cases:
• Cold-Rolled Steel Products from Brazil, China, India, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Russia, and the United Kingdom;
• Corrosion-Resistant Steel Products from China, India, Italy, Korea, and Taiwan;
• Heavy Walled Rectangular Welded Carbon Steel Pipes and Tubes from Korea, Mexico, and Turkey;
• Hot-rolled steel flat products from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, Turkey, and the United Kingdom;
• Welded Stainless Steel Pressure Pipe from India;
• Stainless Steel Sheet and Strip from China;
• Circular Welded Carbon-Quality Steel Pipe from Oman, Pakistan, the Philippines, UAE, and Vietnam;
• Carbon and Alloy Steel Cut-to-Length Plate from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, and Turkey
U.S. trade enforcement laws provide the means by which the American steel industry can mitigate the harm inflicted by illegally traded foreign imports. In order for the industry and its workers to obtain full and effective relief, the ITC must aggressively enforce the law to ensure duties that fully offset the amount of unfair trade are ultimately assessed and collected.
We will continue to closely monitor whether the statutory enforcement tools provided under P.L. 114-27 and other trade enforcement laws are fully utilized during your investigations of these pending steel industry trade cases.
