[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 105 (Wednesday, July 25, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      THE DUMPING OF FOREIGN STEEL

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                            HON. JACK QUINN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 25, 2001

  Mr. QUINN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share a few remarks about the 
dumping of foreign steel into U.S. markets. Recently, the Korea Iron 
and Steel Association dispatched a steel trade mission to the United 
States to convey the Korean steel makers concern over the United States 
movement to restrict imports of steel products, as well as to learn the 
position of the United States government and steel industry. This 
mission visited the USTR, Department of Commerce, the ITC and the 
American Iron and Steel Institute to express the Korean industry's 
concerns over the United States' stance on the recent start of a 
section 201 antidumping investigation.
  Mr. Speaker, it is no secret that the U.S. steel industry is in 
crisis. As one who represents thousands of people whose livelihood 
relies on the steel industry, I can assure you that the injury suffered 
by the U.S. industry and the people it supports is very real.
  The steel crisis has produced casualties at every level in America's 
steel communities. As a result of the most recent wave of dumped steel 
imports, over 23,000 good steel jobs have been lost and 18 steel 
companies have filed for bankruptcy since the beginning of 1998. Anyone 
who thinks that these problems are a thing of the past that were cured 
by the last round of steel orders should know that ten of those 18 
bankruptcies have occurred in the last 8 months.
  Several thousand workers, beyond those laid off, were forced to 
accept reduced work weeks, assignments to lower paying jobs, and early 
retirement. For those workers affected, alternative employment 
opportunities in the surrounding area are hard to come by, and those 
who do find other manufacturing jobs are often paid significantly less 
than what they previously made. The effects of these losses are felt 
right down the line--by workers' families and by other community 
businesses that simply cannot survive if their customers can no longer 
earn a paycheck.
  Mr. Speaker, dumping has become such a problem because foreign 
producers are able to sell well below market in the United States 
because their own home markets are closed to competition, allowing them 
to maintain high at-home prices to subsidize losses abroad. In 
addition, subsidization of foreign producers by their governments is a 
primary reason why massive overcapacity in the world steel industry has 
been created and sustained. The structural problems in the world steel 
market have been created largely by the illegal practices of foreign 
producers, and the U.S. industry should not be forced to suffer as a 
result.

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