TRADE CASES HEADLINESTrade Cases
AISI Urges USTR, Commerce to Address China Trade Concerns
Oct. 27, 2009 The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), on behalf of its U.S. member companies, submitted a letter to United States Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke detailing concerns over China’s steel industry and its trade-related actions.
In the letter, AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson requested that Ambassador Kirk and Secretary Locke address a number of specific issues during their upcoming discussions in China with the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade, including:
- Chinese government subsidies that promote runaway steel capacity growth
- Chinese government export incentives that injure steel and other U.S. producers
- Chinese government currency interventions that threaten the U.S. economic recovery
- Chinese government subsidies that exacerbate the U.S. manufacturing trade deficit.
“U.S. trade actions (whether through trade laws or WTO dispute settlement) to address these unfair trade practices are not “protectionism” but rather legitimate enforcement of our rights under WTO rules,” stated Gibson in the letter.
The letter also urges Ambassador Kirk and Secretary Locke to emphasize to their Chinese colleagues that “efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to respond to climate change can only succeed with a global commitment by all major emitting countries, including in particular China, to reduce carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions.”
AISI serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the material of choice. AISI plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. The Institute comprises 24 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and 138 associate and affiliate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry.