Steel Caucus Leaders Urge Obama to Address Steel Overcapacity at G-20 Summit
Congressional Steel Caucus Chairman Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa., and Vice Chairman Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., urged President Barack Obama to press China to act to reduce excess steel capacity at the upcoming G-20 and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Forum meetings, according to a letter they wrote to the president (here). The lawmakers called for Obama to continue building international support for the development of “clear consequences” for China’s role in global steel overcapacity, in part, through highlighting Chinese currency manipulation, illegal government subsidies, inaction on China’s commitment to shift its steel industry from government to private control, alleged cyber warfare practiced against U.S. steel producers, and China’s non-market economy status for antidumping and countervailing duty purposes.
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The lawmakers claimed that currency manipulation by China and other countries has resulted in the loss of more than 5 million U.S. jobs, and that 95 percent of the steel produced by the top 25 Chinese steel companies is produced by state-owned enterprises. “Many observers believe that China is sliding backwards on many of the economic reforms it has promised,” the letter said. “Put simply, China does not share our free market principles and its requests for market economy treatment should be rejected outright until it demonstrates that it meets all of the criteria for treatment as a 'market economy' under U.S. law.” The lawmakers also called for “proactive, aggressive enforcement” of U.S. trade remedy laws, as well as for the U.S. to cull support from other countries to hold China to its word to cut overcapacity and maintain China’s non-market economy status at the World Trade Organization. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said Obama will call for action on excess global industrial capacity during the summit, particularly in the steel sector (here).