United Steelworkers laud U.S. DOC duties on cold-rolled steel

The United Steelworkers (USW) applauded a preliminary determination of an antidumping investigation announced by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce that places duty orders on imports of cold-rolled flat steel products from Brazil, China, India, Korea, Russia, Japan, and the U.K.

Leo W. Gerard, USW Intl. president, said, "Today's decision comes as welcome news to the steelworkers at American steel mills who produce cold-rolled flat steel products. It is one step forward in the fight by USW-represented members and the companies to make our nation's trade policies work better for working Americans."

He said more than 12,000 steelworkers are either on layoff or threatened by layoffs from the mushrooming steel import crisis. Those affected include taconite miners on the Iron Range of northern Minnesota and at dozens of idled steelmaking facilities in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Alabama, and Kentucky.

The preliminary order announced on cold-rolled steel products will result in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection being instructed to require cash deposits based on the duty rates for cold-rolled steel imports from China and the other six countries until a final decision is made by the International Trade Commission later this year.

"Other industrial goods are under similar attack from foreign dumping and subsidies," Gerard added. "One of the main causes of this crisis is global overcapacity largely fueled by China. The solution is not more talk, but strong rules and disciplines that are aggressively implemented and enforced by the U.S. government.”