[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 63 (Tuesday, May 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Pages H2556-H2557]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   THE CONTINUING STEEL IMPORT CRISIS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 19, 1999, the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Regula) is recognized 
during morning hour debates for 5 minutes.
  Mr. REGULA. Mr. Speaker, the steel import crisis, which began in 
1997, is still continuing today. The numbers tell the story. Total 
steel imports in 1998 were at the highest level ever, 41.5 million net 
tons of steel mill products. This was a 33 percent increase over 
imports in 1997, which also was a record year.
  While the pressure was on as the House debated the steel issue 
earlier this year and overwhelmingly passed H.R. 975, we saw steel 
imports begin to come down in December 1998 and in January and February 
of this year. But as soon as the pressure let up with uncertainty over 
the fate of this legislation in the other body, steel imports shot up 
again in March. We saw a 25 percent increase in steel imports in March 
over the levels in February.
  The U.S. market continues to be the market of last resort for many 
exporters. As markets overseas continue to face economic turmoil, 
exporters continue to ship unprecedented levels of steel into the 
United States, the world's most open market. In order to obtain hard 
currency, exporters have sent the world's oversupply of steel to the 
U.S., often at prices that bear no relation to the actual production 
costs.
  In March we also saw some imports source and product switching, which 
all of us had feared. We saw an increase in imports of blooms, billets 
and slabs and in hot rolled sheet from countries not subject to the 
current trade cases.
  The impacts of this steel import crisis cannot be overstated. Every 
single ton of dumped steel displaces a ton of domestic production. The 
United States industry is losing competitiveness because of these 
unfairly traded imports. Companies are finding that as prices drop and 
imports continue to increase, they cannot commit to future capital 
investments, they cannot commit to needed modernizations, and they 
cannot commit to additional research and development. These effects, if 
not reversed soon, could have a lasting implication on an important 
industry well into the 21st century.
  Company by company the impact is also being felt in the short term. 
Four companies have filed for bankruptcy protection. Mills are 
dramatically cutting production in capacity utilization. Foreign 
producers that dump their products are now realizing the benefits of 
American companies' successful efforts to rebuild the market for steel 
products here in the United States, and most disturbing is the damage 
that is being done to many American families as steelworkers lose their 
jobs. As stated in the President's steel report in January, 10,000 
Americans have lost their jobs because of this crisis. Many will never 
return to jobs that can provide the level of pay and benefits that were 
provided by the steelworker jobs that have been lost, and that does not 
take into account the impact on local community services where jobs are 
lost, the impact of suppliers. So the job number could be much larger.

                              {time}  1245

  Some workers may not lose their jobs, but short work weeks, reduced 
shifts and lost hours can also have a devastating impact on their 
families. Those laid off and those with reduced hours are struggling to 
pay rent and mortgages, to put food on the table and

[[Page H2557]]

to provide their children with the things they need.
  As I have stated before, this crisis does not just impact 
steelworkers and their families. The shortage or the imports affect 
outside contractors, suppliers and everyone in the community that 
depends on these steel mills. I recently read a statistic that for 
every one million tons of domestic steel lost, nearly 5,000 U.S. jobs 
are directly or indirectly affected.
  The highly competitive United States steel industry cannot compete 
with massive foreign subsidies, closed home markets and industrial 
cartels that protect an enormous worldwide overcapacity. It is now time 
for Congress and our government to step in and take the steps necessary 
to provide the U.S. industry a fair and level playing field in the 
global marketplace.
  I urge the other body to complete action on H.R. 975. I further urge 
the House to take up other important trade law bills, including H.R. 
412, which I introduced; H.R. 1120, which was introduced by the 
gentleman from Michigan (Mr. Levin) and the gentleman from New York 
(Mr. Houghton); and H.R. 1505, which was introduced by the gentleman 
from Pennsylvania (Mr. English).
  The current steel import crisis must be stopped, and we must ensure 
that such a crisis will not happen again in the future.
  I might add, I thought it was interesting that President Clinton even 
took the time to take this subject up with the Prime Minister of Japan 
because of their dumping practices.

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