[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 10 (Thursday, January 21, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S865-S866]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           TRADE FAIRNESS ACT

 Mr. SARBANES. Mr. President, I am pleased to join with my 
colleagues on the Senate Steel Caucus in sponsoring the Trade Fairness 
Act of 1999. This legislation seeks to respond to the current steel 
import crisis and prevent future crises by amending U.S. trade law and 
creating a comprehensive steel import monitoring system.
  Within the past year, foreign steel has been imported into the United 
States at unprecedented levels and at prices far below cost. As 
economic markets have failed in Russia and Asia, foreign steel 
manufacturers have increasingly turned to the United States to sell 
their product and, in return, obtain hard currency. In fact, the import 
rate rose 30 percent in the first ten months of 1998, as compared with 
the same period last year, and U.S. steel imports this past October 
were the second highest in history.
  As a result, U.S. steel manufacturers are faced with a real crisis, 
one that threatens to undermine a key sector of our economy. Plants 
across the country have been forced to shorten shifts,

[[Page S866]]

lay-off workers and, in some cases, declare bankruptcy. In my own 
state, workers at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point Division have been 
subjected to shorter hours, shorter shifts and even the shutting down 
of Sparrows Point's galvanized steel line.
  Mr. President, for the past fifteen years, the U.S. steel industry 
has worked aggressively to streamline its operations, improve 
productivity and cut costs, but it cannot compete against illegally 
dumped steel. It is, in fact, time for this Congress to Stand Up For 
Steel.
  With this legislation, we can begin to do just that. The Trade 
Fairness Act of 1999 is comprised of two sections which will enhance 
the ability of the Administration to take action on this crisis. The 
first of these sections amends the emergency safeguards provisions, 
Section 201, of the 1974 Trade Act which allows the President to grant 
temporary import relief to a domestic industry which the International 
Trade Commission finds has been seriously injured by increased imports. 
This section seeks not only to ensure that the steel industry is 
treated equitably, but that all domestic industries may be allowed to 
compete fairly in the global marketplace.
  The second section creates a comprehensive steel import monitoring 
program which requires importers to provide information including the 
name and address of the importer, supplier and producer of the goods to 
be imported, the country of origin of the goods, the expected date of 
entry of the goods, a description of the goods, including the 
classification of these goods under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of 
the United States, and the quantity of the goods to be imported. This 
information will aid the Administration in monitoring the amount of 
steel brought into the United States and allow these numbers to be 
tabulated and released at a rate faster than at present.
  Mr. President, as you know, on January 7, the Administration 
submitted the ``Report to Congress on a Comprehensive Plan for 
Responding to the Increase in Steel Imports.'' I am disappointed that 
this report appears largely to be a recital of things already done by 
the Administration, rather than new steps planned to address the 
problem. The Administration should be focusing on keeping America's 
steelworkers in their line of work, instead of in line collecting 
unemployment. For over a century, the steel industry has stood tall and 
served as a foundation of the American economy. The time for the 
Administration to Stand Up For Steel is now. The U.S. steel industry 
and the 226,000 Americans employed by it deserve nothing less than the 
full support of their country.
  The Trade Fairness Act of 1999 would allow the Administration to 
provide strong support for the American steel industry. I strongly urge 
my colleagues to support its passage.

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