Today, the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) praised a bipartisan group of more than 150 Members of Congress for signing a letter to U.S. 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, which was jointly organized by Reps. Tim Murphy (R-PA) and Pete Visclosky (D-IN), emphasizes the strategic economic importance of OCTG pipe to the future of U.S. energy independence. A similar letter was signed last month by a majority of the U.S. Senate.
The bipartisan letter comes after a preliminary ruling by the Commerce Department had determined that eight countries are dumping OCTG pipe in the U.S. at below fair-market value. Notably absent, however, in the Commerce Department 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. With a final decision set for July, the House letter urges Secretary Pritzker to fully investigate concerns regarding the accuracy of data submitted by South Korean steel companies.
Said AAM President Scott Paul:
“We commend this bipartisan group for their leadership in pressing an issue that has such potentially serious consequences for the nation's steel producers and their workers. We've already seen the effects of this dumped steel pipe in terms of shuttered factories and laid-off workers. We hope their efforts will ultimately help to preserve good middle-class jobs throughout the nation.”
America’s Steel Jobs are in Jeopardy.
The House and Senate letters come 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 and the Law Offices of Stewart and Stewart, the report found that steel 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 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 for a dependence on imported energy infrastructure.”
Read more about the threats facing America’s steel industry.
– See more at: http://www.americanmanufacturing.org/press-releases/more-150-members-congress-urge-action-dumped-steel-pipe-alliance-american-manufacturi#sthash.eNTWNbWw.dpuf