Senators for continuation of duty on steel from India, China

A bipartisan group of 19 senators has asked the Obama Administration for continuation of anti-dumping duty against hot-rolled steel imported from India, China and four other countries.
"Unfair trade practices from foreign competitors are in fact harming workers in our state and all across the country.
"It is in both our national and economic interest to defend the legitimate interests of American workers on the world stage," said Senator Jeff Sessions, Co-Chair of the Senate Steel caucus.
"Agreements with our trading partners should apply to all equally. Our workers and businesses should be able to compete on a level playing field. It's time our government did more to fight back," Sessions said in a statement after the 19 Senators wrote a letter in this regard to Chairman Irving Williamson of the US International Trade Commission (ITC).

"As our trade deficit continues to widen, it becomes more urgent to level the playing field for Ohio based steel producers like ArcelorMittal and AK Steel," said Senator Sherrod Brown.
"Our workers can compete with anyone in the world when on a level playing field. That is why my Senate colleagues and I urge the ITC not to remove existing trade laws which impose import duties to counteract illegal trade practices from foreign competitors like China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Ukraine," he said.

"We are writing to encourage you to maintain the existing antidumping and countervailing duty orders against unfairly traded imports of hot-rolled steel from China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan, and Ukraine.

"These trade orders are necessary to prevent further injury to an already vulnerable domestic steel industry," said the letter dated October 30 by 19 Senators from Republican and Democratic parties.
The Senators alleged the hot-rolled steel producers in all six countries are heavily export-oriented and have become even more so given depressed market conditions in their home and traditional export markets.
"According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, global steel overcapacity is substantial and growing. Yet, these countries continue to expand their capacity at alarming rates.
"With economic slowdowns in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia, foreign producers in these six counties will not hesitate to ship their dumped and subsidized excess steel into the United States, as they have in the past," the letter said.

"Given the current state of the domestic industry and the ability of producers in China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Taiwan and Ukraine to send significant quantities of hot-rolled steel to the US market, removing the existing trade orders would harm the domestic industry and its workers.
"As a result, we strongly urge you to maintain the existing orders against dumped and subsidized imports of hot-rolled steel," the letter said.