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“THE DUMPING OF FOREIGN STEEL” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1421 on July 25, 2001.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
THE DUMPING OF FOREIGN STEEL
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HON. JACK QUINN
of new york
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, July 25, 2001
Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share a few remarks about the dumping of foreign steel into U.S. markets. Recently, the Korea Iron and Steel Association dispatched a steel trade mission to the United States to convey the Korean steel makers concern over the United States movement to restrict imports of steel products, as well as to learn the position of the United States government and steel industry. This mission visited the USTR, Department of Commerce, the ITC and the American Iron and Steel Institute to express the Korean industry's concerns over the United States' stance on the recent start of a section 201 antidumping investigation.
Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that the U.S. steel industry is in crisis. As one who represents thousands of people whose livelihood relies on the steel industry, I can assure you that the injury suffered by the U.S. industry and the people it supports is very real.
The steel crisis has produced casualties at every level in America's steel communities. As a result of the most recent wave of dumped steel imports, over 23,000 good steel jobs have been lost and 18 steel companies have filed for bankruptcy since the beginning of 1998. Anyone who thinks that these problems are a thing of the past that were cured by the last round of steel orders should know that ten of those 18 bankruptcies have occurred in the last 8 months.
Several thousand workers, beyond those laid off, were forced to accept reduced work weeks, assignments to lower paying jobs, and early retirement. For those workers affected, alternative employment opportunities in the surrounding area are hard to come by, and those who do find other manufacturing jobs are often paid significantly less than what they previously made. The effects of these losses are felt right down the line--by workers' families and by other community businesses that simply cannot survive if their customers can no longer earn a paycheck.
Mr. Speaker, dumping has become such a problem because foreign producers are able to sell well below market in the United States because their own home markets are closed to competition, allowing them to maintain high at-home prices to subsidize losses abroad. In addition, subsidization of foreign producers by their governments is a primary reason why massive overcapacity in the world steel industry has been created and sustained. The structural problems in the world steel market have been created largely by the illegal practices of foreign producers, and the U.S. industry should not be forced to suffer as a result.
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