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“SURGE OF CHINESE IMPORTS THREATENS VALUABLE MANUFACTURING JOBS IN WEST VIRGINIA” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Commerce was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1471 on Sept. 13, 2000.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
SURGE OF CHINESE IMPORTS THREATENS VALUABLE MANUFACTURING JOBS IN WEST
VIRGINIA
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HON. NICK J. RAHALL II
of west virginia
in the house of representatives
Wednesday, September 13, 2000
Mr. RAHALL. Mr. Speaker, I wish to express my concern about a small manufacturer in my district that is battling a tidal wave of low-priced Chinese imports and to underscore the importance of strong trade laws.
Portec Rail Products, Inc. is a small business with manufacturing operations in Huntington, West Virginia. Portec makes steel rail joints which hold rail sections together and ensure smooth passage for commercial and passenger trains alike. Portec's West Virginia manufacturing facility represents the core of the kind of small, hard working American company that we all like to see succeed. Portec provides solid, semiskilled manufacturing jobs for many hard-working West Virginians. Additionally, Portec purchases steel bars from a West Virginia steel producer, further enriching the economy of the state.
During the last three years, U.S. imports of low-priced steel rail joints from China have increased exponentially. According to official U.S. Department of Commerce statistics, imports of Chinese rail joints increased from 78,000 pounds in 1997 to 355,878 in 1999, a 356 percent increase. There has been no let-up--during the first quarter of 2000, Chinese imports were at a record pace of 175,000 pounds--a figure which, if annualized, would arnount to a 788 percent increase since 1997.
Chinese imports are also underselling U.S. prices, resulting in lost sales and depressed prices for the U.S. industry. When Portec loses a sale to what might very well be dumped imports from China, it loses the profits and R&D dollars necessary to develop new products and services for its customers. This threat is not Just looming in the future--it is happening today and already has impacted Portec. In fact, Portec recently lost a contract to supply steel rail joints to our very own METRO in Washington, D.C. because the Chinese bid was lower. So, the threat to this small, West Virginia company is very clear.
I can assure you that Portec does not intend to leave the challenge unanswered, and in fact, I will do my best to help them combat the harmful import surge from China through trade cases or other means. We must protect American manufacturing jobs from unfair import surges that injure American industry. The United States must maintain strong antidumping laws and ensure that they provide effective relief to small U.S. businesses before they are driven out of business by unfair trade.
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