Nucor praises U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk's commitment to trade enforcement

Nucor Corporation Chief Executive Officer and President Dan DiMicco today commended United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk for his recent stance in favor of enforced free and fair trade.

"On behalf of Nucor's 21,000 employees, I want to thank Ambassador Kirk for renewing the U.S. commitment to trade enforcement," DiMicco said. "As he noted in his speech last week, the global trading system is based on rules all parties have agreed to abide by. When those rules are broken and enforcement is not pursued, the system does not work.

"The lack of aggressive enforcement of trade laws has been devastating for our economy and the country. We have lost more than five million manufacturing jobs over the last 10 years and run up staggering trade deficits. Our trade imbalance has made us a nation of consumers, not producers, and is at the heart of our current economic crisis. In order to have a truly meaningful economic recovery, we need to reduce our trade deficit and create good paying jobs. That begins by enforcing the rules of global trade.

"We must continue this fight to ensure domestic manufacturers are not squeezed out through illegal and manipulative practices by trading partners.

"I commend Ambassador Kirk and the Obama Administration for making trade enforcement a priority. It is time we level the playing field in global trade in order to create good paying jobs in America."