Bill Introduced in Senate Seeks To Limit Lower-Cost Steel Imports From Mexico

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A bipartisan bill announced Tuesday by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, seeks to curb low-cost Mexican steel imports that Brown said are creating an uneven playing field for trade and costing U.S. steelworkers jobs.

Put forward with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., the Stop Mexico Steel Surge Act would reimpose tariffs on Mexican steel to bring imports back to a “sustainable level” and give American manufacturers a fighting chance in domestic markets, Brown said Tuesday.

“Our bill would slow Mexican steel imports and give Ohio workers the opportunity to make the steel production our economy needs without unfair competition,” Brown said, adding later: “There’s going to be a lot of markets in the future. Ohio steel needs to play a major role in filling those markets. We can compete with anyone … Ohio workers just need a fair playing field.”

The bill comes nearly five years after the U.S. and Mexico reached a joint agreement, through which Mexico was relieved of 25 percent tariffs on its steel imports. In exchange, the parties agreed that, should imports climb above 2015-2017 levels — about 4,200 tons a month — consultations would begin between the two and duties could be reinstated, said Kevin Kelly, president of the pipe division at Wheatland Tube, a steel pipe tube and electrical conduit manufacturer in Warren in Trumbull County.

Kelly, who called into the conference with Brown, said imports surged to about 6,000 tons around 2020 and have since been at or above those levels.

“This has had a direct effect on Wheatland’s operations in Ohio and other states, and it’s time to enforce the deal that Mexico agreed to,” Kelly said.

Steel conduit products have seen some of the most egregious undercutting by Mexico, Brown said, noting that import levels have been 760 percent, or more than 70 times, over historic numbers.

Brown said the bill he and Cotton introduced would reinstate Section 232 tariffs and give the Biden administration authority to impose additional quotas on products being imported at high levels. Quotas, or government-issued limitations on the quantity or monetary value of imported goods, are “generally a last resort,” Brown said, adding “We need to be able to use all our tools to level the playing field.”

Almost one month ago, Cleveland-Cliffs, the largest flat-rolled steel producer in North America, announced it would indefinitely be idling its tinplate steel production facility in Weirton, resulting in the plant’s roughly 900 employees being offered severance packages or opportunities at other facilities.

The decision to idle the plant was made after the International Trade Commission voted not to permit tariffs on tin imports. That determination closed Cleveland-Cliffs and the United Steelworkers’ trade case, alleging dumping of low-cost in tin in U.S. markets by other countries and urging the use of anti-dumping and countervailing duties to ensure fair trade.

Brown, who visited the Cleveland-Cliffs plant in September and had previously testified before the ITC regarding tinplate, said Tuesday that the ITC made the “wrong decision” in the trade case.

“We’re going to keep fighting; I’m going to keep testifying,” he said. “I’ve been … (in front of the ITC) maybe 30 times over the years. Usually they side with us; this time they didn’t. We’re going to keep pushing.”

Courtesy: www.theintelligencer.net