It’s time to rewrite the trade laws
Contact: Gary Hubbard, 202-256-8125, ghubbard@usw.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Mar. 27) – Thomas M. Conway, International Vice President of the United Steelworkers (USW), yesterday raised the profile of how 5,500 laid-off steelworkers at U.S. Steel Corp. in five states, now view a renewed crisis in the American steel industry as an urgent, immediate need to rewrite America’s trade laws to stop the tide of subsidized and dumped steel imports into the U.S. market.
The USW vice president joined many of the major steel company CEOs before some 15 Members of Congress who represent steel facilities in their districts to speak out on the state of the American steel industry. He said existing policies on trade are undermining manufacturing and employment in the steel industry. Conway said China, South Korea, Brazil, Turkey and many other countries are flooding our market with steel products.
In his testimony, he said, “One year ago yesterday, USW President Leo Gerard appeared here before you and said that “the steel industry and its workers are facing pressures that threaten their future.” Conway then declared: “Those threats have only gotten worse in the last year and our members across most of our industrial sectors see that Washington is either doing little to help, or is about to make those problems worse.”
He said, “Aggressively enforcing a lousy trade law doesn’t get you much to protect jobs and industry investments ,” explaining that when you have injury building from lost jobs, it’s then too late to fight back against illegal subsidization and dumping.
Conway told the congressional steel caucus that USW members appreciate much of their support, but enough is not being done. He related the current U.S. negotiation for a new trade deal with 11 other nations, called the ‘Trans-Pacific Partnership’ (TPP), is not a good approach either.
“The first agreement they want to grease the skids for is the TPP and, as I’ve noted, it will only increase our problems. Not only does it fail to address the key issues of currency manipulation and global overcapacity, but it will increase the incentives to outsource production and diminish the incentives to produce here.
“There’s an opportunity here to change the way we do business. It’s time to rewrite the laws.”
The U.S. House Steel Caucus hearing was hosted by Steel Caucus Chair Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Vice-Chair Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-IN).
Representatives from the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), the Specialty Steel Industry of North America (SSINA), and the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports (CPTI) also participated.
USW Vice President Conway’s full written testimony is available HERE. The individual steel company statements presented at the steel caucus hearing are HERE. A video recording of the 80-minute congressional steel caucus hearing can be viewed: VIDEO.
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