[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 133 (Tuesday, September 29, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Pages S11128-S11130]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 121--EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF CONGRESS THAT 
  THE PRESIDENT SHOULD TAKE ALL NECESSARY MEASURES TO RESPOND TO THE 
                       INCREASE IN STEEL IMPORTS

  Mr. SPECTER (for himself, Mr. Hollings, Mr. Moynihan, Mr. Santorum, 
Mr. Ford, Mr. D'Amato, Mr. Hatch, Ms. Mikulski, Mr. Bennett, Mr. 
Sessions, Mr. Hutchinson, Mr. Byrd, Mr. Sarbanes, Mr. Rockefeller, Mr. 
Coats, and Mr. Levin) submitted the following concurrent resolution; 
which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations.

                            S. Con. Res. 121

       Whereas the current financial crises in Asia, the 
     independent States of the former Soviet Union (as defined in 
     section 3 of the FREEDOM Support Act), Russia, and other 
     areas of the world, involve significant depreciation in the 
     currencies of several key steel-producing and steel-consuming 
     countries, along with a collapse in the domestic demand for 
     steel in the countries;
       Whereas the crises have generated and will continue to 
     generate increases in United States imports of steel, both 
     from the countries whose currencies have been depreciated and 
     from other Asian steel-producing countries that are no longer 
     able to export steel to the countries that are experiencing 
     an economic crisis;
       Whereas United States imports of finished steel mill 
     products from Asian steel-producing countries, such as the 
     People's Republic of China, Japan, Korea, India, Taiwan, 
     Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, increased by 79 percent in 
     the first 5 months of 1998;
       Whereas year-to-date imports of steel from Russia now 
     exceed the record import levels of 1997, and steel imports 
     from Russia and the Ukraine now approach 2,500,000 net tons;
       Whereas foreign government trade restrictions and private 
     restraints of trade distort international trade and 
     investment patterns and result in burdens on United States 
     commerce, including absorption of a disproportionate share of 
     steel diverted from other countries;
       Whereas the European Union, for example, despite also being 
     a major economy, in 1997 imported only one-tenth as much 
     finished steel products from Asian steel-producing countries 
     as the United States did and has restricted imports of steel 
     from the independent states of the former Soviet Union and 
     Russia;
       Whereas the United States is simultaneously facing a 
     substantial increase in steel imports from the independent 
     states of the former Soviet Union and Russia, caused in part 
     by the closure of Asian markets to steel imports; and
       Whereas there is a well recognized need for improvement in 
     the enforcement of the United States trade laws to provide an 
     effective response to situations of such increased imports: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives 
     concurring), That Congress calls upon the President to--
       (1) pursue enhanced enforcement of the United States trade 
     laws with respect to the increase in steel imports into the 
     United States, using all remedies available under United 
     States laws including imposition of offsetting duties, 
     quantitative restrictions, and other appropriate remedial 
     measures;
       (2) pursue with all methods at the President's disposal to 
     achieve a more equitable sharing of the burden of accepting 
     imports of finished steel products from Asia and the 
     independent states of the former Soviet Union;
       (3) establish a task force within the executive branch that 
     has responsibility for closely monitoring imports of steel 
     into the United States; and
       (4) report to Congress not later than January 5, 1999, with 
     a comprehensive plan for responding to the increase in steel 
     imports, including ways of limiting the deleterious effects 
     on employment, prices, and investment in the United States 
     steel industry.

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition today to offer 
a bipartisan Senate concurrent resolution addressing the current steel 
import crisis, which has been brought about due to the Asian and 
Russian financial crisis.
  On Thursday, September 10, 1998, as chairman of the Senate Steel 
Caucus, I joined Congressman Regula in convening a joint meeting of the 
Senate and House Steel Caucus with executives from a number of the 
nation's largest steel manufacturers and members of the United 
Steelworkers of America to learn more about the current influx of 
imported steel into the United States. At that meeting, I expressed my 
profound concern regarding the impact of

[[Page S11129]]

our steel companies and steelworkers of the current financial crisis in 
Asia and Russia, which have generated surges in U.S. imports of Asian 
and Russian steel.
  According to the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the past 
three months have been the highest monthly import volumes in U.S. 
history and, with Asia and Russia in economic crisis and with other 
major industrial nations not accepting their fair share of the 
adjustment burden, U.S. steel companies and employees are being damaged 
by this injurious unfair trade.
  As Hank Barnette, Chief Executive Officer of Bethlehem Steel, wrote 
in an August 6, 1998 op-ed in the Washington Times, the United States 
has become the dumping ground for foreign steel. He noted that Russia 
has become the world's number one steel exporting nation and that China 
is now the world's number one steel-producing nation, which enormous 
subsidies to foreign steel producers have continued. As one example, 
Mr. Barnette cited the Commerce Department's recent revelation that 
Russia, one of the world's least efficient producers, was selling steel 
plate in the United States at more than 50 percent, or $110 per ton, 
below the constructed cost to make plate steel, which ultimately costs 
our steel companies in lost sales and results in fewer jobs for 
American workers.
  Specifically, in the first half of 1998, total U.S. steel imports 
were 18.2 million net tons, which is a 12.4 percent increase over 
1997's record level of 16.2 million tons for the same period. For the 
month of June 1998, total U.S. imports of steel mill products totaled 
over 3.7 million net tons, which is up 39.2 percent from June, 1997 
level of 2.6 million net tons. In June 1998, U.S. imports of finished 
steel imports were a record 3 million net tons, a 41.6 percent increase 
over the June 1997 2.1 million net tons.
  Also in the first half of 1998, compared to the same period in 1997, 
steel imports from Japan are up 114 percent, steel imports from Korea 
are up 90 percent, and imports from Indonesia are up 309 percent. Most 
significantly, the U.S. steel industry currently employs 163,000 people 
down from 500,000 people in the 1980's. This situation is untenable for 
the American steelworkers, steel manufacturers, their customers, and 
the American people in general.
  I believe that the growing coalition of steel manufacturers, and 
Congress must work together to remedy this import crisis before it is 
too late and the U.S. steel industry is forced to endure an 
excruciatingly painful economic downturn. We have many of the tools we 
need at our disposal to protect our steel industry from unfair and 
illegally dumped steel, and we must act now. At the caucus meeting, I 
noted my intention to once again seek enactment of my longstanding 
proposal to establish a private legal right of action for aggrieved 
steel companies and steelworkers where they can prove harm caused by 
illegal dumping of foreign goods.
  This resolution calls on the President to take all necessary measures 
to respond to the surge of steel imports resulting from the Asian and 
Russian financial crisis. Specifically, the attached resolution calls 
on the President to: pursue enhanced enforcement of the U.S. trade 
laws, pursue all tools available to ensure that other nations accept a 
more equitable sharing of these steel imports; establish a task force 
to closely monitor U.S.imports of steel, and, report to Congress by 
January 5, 1999, on a comprehensive plan to respond to this surge of 
steel imports.
  The U.S. steel industry has become a world class industry with a very 
high-quality product. This has been achieved at a great cost: $50 
billion in new investment to restructure and modernize; 40 million tons 
of capacity taken out of the industry; and a work force dramatically 
downsized from 500,000 to 170,000. This resolution is essential to 
respond promptly to the current steel import crisis and prevent the 
loss of thousands of high-paying jobs in the steel industry. For these 
reasons, I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting adoption of this 
resolution.
  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I am pleased to be a cosponsor of the Senate 
Concurrent Resolution offered by the Senator from Pennsylvania, Senator 
Specter. In brief, the resolution calls for action by the U.S. 
government on several fronts to address the steel import crisis. More 
importantly, it reassures the U.S. steel industry, and steel workers, 
that the United States Congress is concerned about the state of the 
steel industry and is committed to ensuring that a fair trade policy 
prevails.
  The aim of this resolution is straightforward: to respond to the 
import crisis affecting the domestic steel industry. In this regard, 
the Senate Concurrent Resolution calls for enforcement of U.S. trade 
laws, equitable sharing of steel import surpluses, the establishment of 
a task force to monitor U.S. imports of steel, and a report from the 
President with a plan to respond to the surge of steel imports.
  Senator Specter's resolution is a companion to H. Con Res. 328. The 
resolution is supported by the leadership of the Senate Steel Caucus 
and it is endorsed by the domestic steel industry.
  For those not familiar with the steel import crisis, as the markets 
have struggled in Asia, Russia, and other regions of the world, and the 
purchasing power evaporates within these countries' borders, foreign 
steel producers are diverting record levels of steel products from 
stalling economies into the United States. Desperate to find hard 
currency, our trading partners are flooding the U.S. market with 
imported steel that is creating a glut that is placing thousands of 
U.S. steel jobs at risk. This is a looming crisis that could have a 
domino effect, which may jeopardize the security of families across the 
nation and the communities in which they live.
  Regrettably, the impact of current trade and capital flow throughout 
the so-called modern global economy is becoming a familiar story. The 
effects of far-flung economic trouble not only play havoc with the U.S. 
steel industry, but also ripple through the auto industry, the farming 
industry, and a host of other domestic industries.
  Live and let live? Is that the appropriate U.S. reaction to this 
crisis?
  Through the International Monetary Fund, the United States reacts to 
the crises of our trading partners overseas with generous participation 
in bailout programs. We have risen to the occasion many times to help 
other nations facing grave economic dilemmas. But, can we afford to 
continue to help if our trading partners thank us by attempting to 
export their way out of their crises at the expense of the U.S. 
economy?
  I would like to share one sentiment expressed to me about this 
situation in a letter by Mr. Jim Bowen, President of the West Virginia 
AFL-CIO: ``Working Americans have always generously helped out those in 
need, but they can't be expected to do so by sacrificing their jobs and 
their families' security.'' And hear the words of Mr. Stephen Parks, a 
manager with Ameristeel in St. Albans, West Virginia: ``We are cost-
competitive with the best in the world. But we cannot compete fairly 
with foreign economies driven by the impetus to export their own 
unemployment through subsidization or which export solely for the 
purpose of acquiring tradeable currency at any cost.''
  Many of my colleagues have recently urged action on behalf of the 
nation's farmers. I certainly sympathize with the problems facing 
American farmers whose overseas markets have been adversely affected by 
these same economic downturns. This is no less a crisis, and, equally, 
deserves swift and sure action by the Congress. As this Congress begins 
the serious business of examining the international financial crisis, 
and formulating the appropriate U.S. response, the measures called for 
in this resolution are simple logic. After hearing the words of 
managers and workers in the U.S. steel industry, I believe that this 
resolution might also accomplish another worthy goal: restoring the 
confidence in our international trade agenda.
  Let us be realistic. This international steel crisis did not occur 
overnight. In fact, the crisis is in part a result of decades-long 
government-sponsored illegal subsidies by our trading partners that 
this nation has not aggressively sought to correct. These subsidies 
have kept too many steel producers around the world eagerly fostering 
overcapacity because of unfair competitive advantages. Now, not only 
are the steel producers in Asia, Russia, and other parts of the world 
suffering, but so are American steel workers, who have played fair, and 
trusted our trade enforcement mechanisms.

[[Page S11130]]

  As called for in the resolution being submitted today, we must move 
forward with the full and timely enforcement of our trade laws. We must 
do that before any serious thought is given to the adoption of trade 
measures to liberalize trade with additional nations not currently on 
the books. Existing trade agreements must be enforced and the long-term 
implications of these agreements must be understood. I hope that the 
responsible government trade officials share my concern.
  I understand that the United States Trade Representative, Charlene 
Barshefsky, met with steel industry representatives in early September 
and, while I was unable to attend that meeting, I am advised that in 
her press release the Ambassador reaffirmed the Administration's 
``commitment to strong U.S. trade laws designed to prevent injury to 
U.S. industry and workers from unfair trade practices and from import 
surges, and to the expeditious and effective enforcement of these 
laws.'' I was pleased to learn of these encouraging words from the 
Ambassador, and I hope that she will be successful in carrying out this 
agenda.

  In this regard, I believe that this Congress should assist USTR in 
moving this agenda forward. Let us help the Ambassador by stating 
clearly to our trading partners the Congress' stance on this matter. I 
am confident that Ambassador Barshefsky intends to negotiate the deal 
of all deals. In good faith, she intends to negotiate a global free 
trade paradise where all can compete on a level and transparent playing 
field.
  Unfortunately, I have heard that very intent voiced many times by 
U.S. and foreign negotiators--and so have the U.S. steel workers. They 
heard it in 1974, during the Tokyo Round of the General Agreement on 
Tariff and Trade (GATT). That agreement cost this country hundreds of 
thousands of steel jobs. Many listeners may remember the result that 
deal had on Allentown. Well, I also remember Clarksburg, Wheeling, and 
Weirton, West Virginia, all losers in that trade agreement.
  The U.S. steel industry has stuck it out, and U.S. steel producers 
did what the new 1974 trade rules said to do: restructure and 
modernize, and become the most efficient producers of steel in the 
world. The deal struck in that agreement was that the industry was to 
accomplish this restructuring and modernization and, then, the 
government would ensure that there would be a level global playing 
field on which to compete.
  However, today, over 20 years later, the U.S. steel industry 
continues to face unfair trade practices from every corner of the 
world. In the global free trade garden of paradise, apparently, some 
players keep eating off the forbidden subsidy tree, because the so-
called paradise is a pretty shabby place for U.S. workers.
  In closing, I want to address the Constitutional component of 
supporting this resolution. This debate is a good place for Congress to 
reflect the myths and the realities of our current trade policies. It 
is time that the Congress takes seriously its constitutional role in 
the regulation of foreign commerce. The Constitution vests the Congress 
with the power ``to regulate commerce with foreign nations.'' It is the 
task of Congress to understand the benefits and risks of global trade, 
but to promote only trade policies that are fair to all Americans, 
whether they be steel or auto workers, farmers, or bankers.
  I urge my colleagues to support the important steel resolution 
offered by Senator Specter. Regulation of foreign commerce is the 
Constitutional responsibility of Congress. It will assist the USTR in 
negotiating firm agreements. It will help restore the confidence of 
American workers in U.S. trade policy. I urge my colleagues to support 
this resolution.

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