Steel Industry Seeks Recourse

U.S. steelmakers struggling to compete with overseas exporters of the metal are taking their case to Congress. The industry seeks a revision in the way in foreign trade complaints are reviewed.

The domestic steel industry recently has idled 32% of its capacity, according to reports, and U.S. raw-steel output is down 14% this year. U.S. steelmakers are being pinched by a strong dollar, which makes it possible for foreign producers to spend less in production hence net more in sales, and a geographic shift in demand. The U.S. needs more steel as demand levels off in China and remains flat in Europe.

The result: record output from foreign steelmakers, and fewer steel manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

Because complaints brought before the U.S. International Trade Commission and the U.S. Commerce Department cannot be appealed, and because those regulatory bodies focus on narrowly defined questions, steel industry leaders are opting instead to begin by asking Congress to revise how trade cases are weighed.

A spokeswoman for Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said the senator will present this spring a Trade Promotion Authority bill, which would revise how foreign trade complaints are reviewed and allow for considerations beyond the traditional regulatory questions. S