Bipartisan Group of 57 Senators Urge Commerce Department to Act on Dumping of Steel Pipe
Today, the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) praised a bipartisan group of 57 Senators for signing a letter to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker urging a thorough investigation of the dumping of oil country tubular goods (OCTG) steel pipe in the U.S. market by South Korea. The letter was jointly organized by Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Rob Portman (R-OH), and emphasizes the strategic economic importance of OCTG pipe to the future of U.S. energy independence.
The bipartisan letter comes after a preliminary ruling by the Commerce Department that found eight countries are dumping OCTG pipe in the U.S. at below fair-market value. Notably absent, however, in the Commerce analysis was any finding of wrongdoing by South Korea, the primary source of imported OCTG products. With no market of its own, South Korea exports nearly all of its OCTG production – often at well-below market prices – to the United States. A final decision will be made in early July, with a majority of the U.S. Senate urging Secretary Pritzker to fully investigate concerns regarding the accuracy of data submitted by South Korean steel companies.
Said AAM President Scott Paul:
“It’s hard for the Senate today to agree on anything, so it’s especially noteworthy that Senator Brown, Senator Portman, and a majority of their colleagues have weighed in on this critical trade case so forcefully. I commend their leadership and believe it will ultimately help to preserve good middle-class jobs in manufacturing around the nation.”
America’s Steel Jobs are in Jeopardy.
The Senate letter comes on the heels of a new report that found a surge of subsidized, dumped steel imports could threaten more than half a million steelmaking jobs in the U.S. Co-authored by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and the Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart, the report found that dumping is especially apparent in the market for OCTG pipe used in oil and natural gas exploration. OCTG imports from South Korea and eight other countries more than doubled between 2010 and 2012. As the surge continues, domestic steelmakers’ production, capacity utilization, shipments, and sales all fell in the first quarter of 2013, with operating income was slashed by nearly $191 million.
Paul commented, “We’re exploring natural gas and oil in this country on the promise of energy independence. But if our government doesn’t act, we’ll head down a path of swapping our dependence on foreign oil with a dependence on foreign energy infrastructure.”
Read more about the threats facing America’s steel industry.