US steelmakers call for stronger trade protection measures

The Steelmakers Association (SMA) and six other industry groups are calling on the House of Representatives to include the Playing Field 2.0 Act in the upcoming package of laws designed to protect the United States from China’s unfair trade practices. This is stated in the SMA press release.

“We urge you to support American workers and industry, and to show China that it cannot simply continue to evade our trade protections. Passage of the Playing Field 2.0 Act will send a powerful message that we will not stand idly by as China attempts to dominate global manufacturing,” the letter reads.

The industry associations remind that the relevant draft law is aimed at protecting against unfair imports, combating China’s cross-border subsidies, and speeding up investigations into violators who move production from one country to another.

As Philip Bell, SMA President, reminded, the Playing Field 2.0 Act has strong bipartisan support. It provides the U.S. government with the tools it needs to improve compliance with trade laws that China is using, in particular through the transshipment of subsidized steel products that are then illegally dumped on the U.S. market.

Kevin Dempsey, President and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), noted that trade-distorting policies of governments around the world continue to result in dumped and subsidized steel imports that harm or threaten these U.S. steel producers.

He recalled that China, for example, is massively subsidizing new steel capacity outside its borders as part of the Belt and Road Initiative. As it stands, Dempsey said, U.S. trade laws cannot effectively counter Chinese-subsidized steel from these export-oriented plants in Southeast Asia. At the same time, the Playing Field 2.0 Act is needed to update laws to address cross-border subsidies and other similar trade challenges.

House Speaker Mike Johnson recently stated that he expects Congress to send a package of laws on China to the White House by the end of this year.

In July, US steel associations supported the introduction of the Prove It Act, which would require Congress to verify the carbon intensity of products derived from various sources, including steel.