[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6345]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



             OUR UNITED STATES STEEL INDUSTRY IS STRUGGLING

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. English) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. ENGLISH. Mr. Speaker, I am brought to the floor by two recent 
bits of news that were called to my attention, one that fills me with 
foreboding and another that fills me with hope.
  Yesterday, I received sad news from my district. Another local steel 
company, MacInnes Steel, had filed for bankruptcy, a company that has 
been a long partner and a long contributor in our community; a company 
that I visited only a few weeks ago as I traveled my district to 
announce my chairmanship of the Congressional Steel Caucus; a company 
that is progressive and in which management has been making a major 
capital investment; a modern steel company. This company had filed for 
protection under our bankruptcy laws.
  Their CEO called it, and I quote, ``a last resort as it struggled 
with the double blow of a domestic slump in the industry and surging 
energy costs.''
  I must say this is not the first time recently this has happened in 
my district. Earlier this year, we received the news that an employee-
owned company, Erie Forge and Steel, another long-standing institution 
in our community, had filed for bankruptcy. They cited a variety of 
reasons for this, including foreign dumping and a slow economy.
  The fact is, this is part of a pattern we are seeing around the 
country. America's steel industry is struggling. We are experiencing a 
steel crisis. A major core industry of our manufacturing capacity is 
being threatened, and in the process we face the risk that a major 
strategic part of our manufacturing sector could be hollowed out in the 
near future.
  Our companies are facing predatory trade practices from our foreign 
competitors, and so it was encouraging to me to read on Tuesday that 
the U.S. Department of Commerce had made a preliminary determination 
confirming that a number of our foreign trade competitors were dumping 
hot-rolled steel in the U.S. market. I have to say this is a very 
important decision and a very encouraging one. This preliminary ruling 
found that 11 countries had been violating our trade laws, including 
Argentina, China, India and Taiwan, and were benefiting from 
countervailable subsidies as high as 40 percent.
  This finding points to major infringements not only of international 
trade norms but also our anti-dumping laws.
  This preliminary decision is good news for our struggling domestic 
steel industry. It means that beginning this week, we collected a bond 
from the importers in the amount of the preliminary dumping margin, 
providing immediate relief to our employers. If, in the final 
determination, the decision stands that these countries are indeed 
dumping on U.S. markets, anti-dumping orders will be issued.
  The problem of dumping, Mr. Speaker, is not unique to western 
Pennsylvania employers but, rather, is part of a bigger picture of what 
is happening nationwide with the steel industry facing a cascade of 
layoffs. The companies that were injured by unfair trade practices in 
this decision are not only from Pennsylvania; but they are also from 
Kentucky, Illinois, North Carolina, Indiana, and Ohio.

                              {time}  1530

  This decision by the Commerce Department is an important and initial 
recognition of how severe the problem of dumping is as it faces our 
domestic industry.
  I would like to commend the Bush administration for their quick 
action in this area. It is good to know that President Bush is willing 
to enforce the existing trade laws. But this is only a beginning. I 
urge the administration to continue to take action to protect American 
workers and their jobs when they face clearly unfair competition.
  The economic slowdown in the United States and East Asia intensifies 
the need for enforcement of our trade laws. Yes, there was a drop in 
steel imports last month, but as we have analyzed that change, clearly 
this only reflects a buildup of excess inventory. The steel industry 
continues to be flat on its back facing a depression even as we debate 
whether other areas of the economy are heading toward a recession.
  We must be very vigilant against dumping and unfair trade practices 
by our competitors. I encourage President Bush to look at all of his 
options, including seeking an action under section 201 and supporting 
our efforts to dramatically strengthen domestic trade laws that allow 
the administration to police our markets.

                          ____________________