[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 18 (Wednesday, February 27, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E215-E216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TARIFF-BASED SECTION 201 RELIEF

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. AMO HOUGHTON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 27, 2002

  Mr. HOUGHTON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today along with many of my fellow 
colleagues to urge the President to implement a strong, effective 
remedy for the U.S. steel industry as a result of the ITC's recent 
Section 201 investigation, even if I speak from a somewhat different 
perspective than many of these colleagues.
  While I am well aware of the importance of a stable domestic steel 
industry to the financial security and national defense of this 
country, I do not represent a district with an extensive steel industry 
presence that has been devastated by the recent steel crisis. However, 
I do have a steel specialty company that closed last year, laying off 
many individuals. The plant was recently purchased by a new owner and 
is in the process of reopening. In addition, I have many constituents 
in the district with steel-related jobs that have been hurt by the 
steel imports. In New York State, the number of employees in the New 
York steel industry dropped by 27 percent from January

[[Page E216]]

1998 to July 2001. I also represent thousands of hard-working Americans 
who want to know that America's trade laws are going to be enforced if 
their own livelihoods ever come under a similar attack. That is why I 
stand before you today.
  I applaud the President for his recognition that the domestic steel 
industry is in the midst of a crisis and for initiating a Section 201 
investigation. That investigation has culminated in a unanimous 
agreement at the ITC that the U.S. steel industry has been 
significantly injured by the unfair trade practices of foreign 
producers and nations. Our laws now put the ball back in the 
President's court and call on the Administration to implement a remedy 
that will give the domestic industry a real opportunity to recover from 
years of unfair trade and to compete in today's ever-changing 
marketplace. This remedy must come in the form of strong, tariff-based 
relief.
  An effective tariff-based remedy would help return steel prices to 
their normal pre-crisis levels and allow American steel companies to 
make the necessary investments to remain viable and competitive in the 
future. It would also stimulate foreign governments and steel producers 
to make the difficult decisions that U.S. producers have already made--
to bring stability and balance to the global steel market. In order to 
be effective, this remedy must meet certain criteria.
  The first key to an effective tariff-based remedy is that it must be 
substantial in order to ensure that import prices return to market-
based levels. To that end, the domestic industry has determined that a 
40 percent tariff rate on flat-rolled products is warranted. In the 
Section 201 investigation, two of the ITC Commissioners fully agreed 
with this determination.
  An effective remedy also must be comprehensive and must be imposed 
for a substantial period of time. Applying a consistent tariff-based 
remedy across all flat steel products is the only fair way to impose 
relief, and the only way to ensure that foreign producers don't simply 
shift their excess production to other areas. Further, in order for a 
remedy to have any real effect on the domestic and global marketplace, 
it must be enforced for at least four years. This will allow the 
domestic industry to make the necessary adjustments to import 
competition, and the President to achieve his objective of repairing 
the global steel trading system.
  In endorsing the use of an effective, tariff-based remedy, I strongly 
urge the President to steer clear of quota-based relief. Such a remedy 
would further distort the global marketplace by providing an artificial 
incentive for foreign producers to ship substantial amounts of low-
priced steel into our borders as quickly as possible in order to ``get 
in under the quota.'' The last thing U.S. producers need at this time 
is another uncontrolled flood of under-priced steel.
  The Administration has promised on a number of occasions to be tough 
on unfair trade, and now is the time to live up to that promise. The 
President must implement this effective tariff-based relief in order to 
demonstrate to foreign producers and governments that the 
Administration is serious about addressing not just the problem of 
foreign excess steel capacity, but also the problem of unfair trade 
practices in general. Our laws are consistent with international law 
and designed to ensure that our industries have somewhere to turn for 
relief when they fall victim to unfair trade. These laws are only 
effective to the extent they are enforced, and their enforcement is a 
duty that we owe to the American people.

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