Letter to the Hon. Penny Pritzker, Secretary, Department of Commerce - Enforce Trade Laws in Pending Steel Case

Letter

Dear Secretary Pritzker,

We are writing to express our strong support for domestic steel plate producers and American steelworkers in the pending trade case involving carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length ("CTL") plate from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, and Turkey.

As Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus, we encourage the Department of Commerce (Commerce) to ensure that foreign competitors' unfair trade practices do not continue to injure an already weakened industry. While the American steel industry recently obtained much-needed trade relief on imports of corrosion-resistant, cold-rolled, and hot-rolled steel, U.S. steel producers continue to suffer from an onslaught of imports, including of carbon and alloy steel cut-to-length ("CTL") plate.

Facing an unprecedented surge in unfairly traded imports, the domestic industry filed an antidumping and countervailing duty case in April of this year against imports of CTL plate from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, South Africa, Taiwan, and Turkey. Last year, nearly one million tons of CTL plate, valued at more than $700 million, was imported from these countries. The outcome of this case is absolutely critical to the health of the domestic CTL plate industry.

Congress has worked hard to give Commerce new tools to evaluate trade remedy cases, including enhanced discretion to apply adverse facts available where companies or their governments have failed to cooperate. It is critical that Commerce utilize these tools in calculating the appropriate level of duties in the ongoing CTL plate investigations.

On behalf of the domestic CTL plate industry and the workers and families who depend on the full and fair enforcement of our trade laws, we ask you to give careful consideration to their arguments in your upcoming preliminary determinations.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of these critical issues.

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