Dear Mr. President:
I write to express my disappointment with your decision to not require American iron and steel to be used in construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. During your campaign, your inaugural address, and your recent address to Congress, you pledged that "Buy American" would be a key tenant of your Administration's policies. Unfortunately, it appears that in one of your first major decisions, you have chosen to disregard these pledges.
Unfortunately, according to TransCanada, the owner of the proposed pipeline, half of the pipe for the U.S. portion of the pipeline would be sourced from foreign countries. And for the other half that would be put together here in the United States, much of the raw material, such as the steel that goes into the pipe, could be sourced from overseas.
America's iron and steel industry has been under attack by foreign, government-supported steel producers, with China's steel industry acting particularly egregiously. The Obama Administration finally took steps to impose large tariffs on many of the illegally priced foreign steel products that were flooding our shores in violation of international trade agreements, but significant inventories of illegally priced - and potentially lower quality - foreign steel remain in the United States, unfairly depressing domestic prices and keeping American steelworkers, including those on Minnesota's Iron Range, out of work.
I appreciate your pledge to support "Buy American" policies, and I look forward to working with you in areas where we can level the playing field for America's iron and steel industry. Therefore, I urge you to reconsider your decision to side with Chinese and other government-supported foreign steel industries and against American workers on this matter.
Sincerely,