McKinley Comments on the "State of the Steel Industry"

Press Release

Today, Congressional David McKinley, a member of the House Steel Caucus, attended the annual "State of the Steel Industry" hearing in Washington, D.C. to discuss many issues facing the industry. In the First Congressional District, and throughout the entire U.S., we have seen the chilling affects that over regulation by the Federal government, Chinese currency manipulation, illegal dumping of manufactured goods, as well as irrational court decisions in the World Trade Organization courts and the U.S. Court of International Trade have caused.

"What was once Weirton Steel and Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, thriving and fueling Ohio Valley families and businesses with 30,000 employees, now has a staff below 2,000. What we heard today is that Congress must take action to protect America's manufacturers andtheir employees who continue to suffer due to unfair policies and decisions. At a time when 23 million Americans are unemployed or underemployed, Congress must put partisan politics and bickering aside to do what is right for our nation."

To this end, McKinley is an original co-sponsor of H.R. 4105, which overturned a Federal court decision and will allow relief for U.S. manufacturers from subsidized imports from non-market economies like China. This ruling, if it had gone forward, would have put million of jobs at risk, and will now level the playing field for our manufacturers and workers. McKinley is also an original co-sponsor of H.R. 639, which addresses the issue of currency manipulation by countries such as China who have devalued their currency upwards of 60 percent. This devaluation essentially gives China's own exports a government subsidy, and in effect, taxes American-made imports. This measure will force the Treasury Department to indentify and engage the countries in violation of this policy by allowing America to place countervailing duties on imports from the offending countries.

"I applaud the bipartisan efforts to enact H.R. 4105 into law. It is my hope that we can now fix the Chinese currency manipulation issue by enacting H.R. 639 and reverse any additional irrational court decisions rendered by the ITC and WTO."

"We are currently developing legislation to encourage manufacturers to invest in abandoned and existing industrial sites across America. For too long, Washington has created a climate which drove manufacturers offshore. It is time we reverse this attitude and create meaningful jobs in manufacturing in America."

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