SCHUMER: NUCOR & THEIR HUNDREDS OF EMPLOYEES ARE IN JEOPARDY BECAUSE FOREIGN COUNTRIES ARE DUMPING HUGE AMOUNTS OF STEEL REBAR INTO U.S. – SENATOR CALLS ON FEDS TO LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD IN TIME FOR CONSTRUCTION SEASON
Artificially Cheap Steel Rebar Imports From Turkey & Mexico Are Flooding the U.S. Market, Making It Difficult For NY Steel Manufacturers Like Nucor To Compete; Recent Series Of Dept. of Commerce Findings Have Wrongly Sided Against U.S. Steel Companies Like Nucor
As New Dept. of Commerce Ruling Approaches, Schumer Urges Commerce to Fight Against Unfair Dumping And Take Immediate Action To Protect Nucor and Cayuga County Workers Against Underpriced Foreign Steel
Schumer: It is Time US Dept. of Commerce Put A Stop To Unfair Trade Practices & Allow Key NY Industry To Thrive
Last week, at Nucor Steel in Auburn, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer revealed new attempts by Mexico, Turkey and other countries to undercut U.S. Steel producers like Auburn’s Nucor Steel. The Department of Commerce is currently investigating this behavior and will soon issue its findings. Schumer urged the Commerce Department to protect Nucor and its workforce by officially addressing massive surges in imports of subsidized and predatorily priced steel rebar. The Senator launched his fight for the U.S. Department of Commerce to level the playing field for Nucor and its over 300 workers ahead of this year’s construction season, when the demand for rebar jumps significantly. Schumer detailed how Turkish and Mexican rebar imports increased by 97% from 2010 to 2013, and are continuing to increase significantly in 2014. Schumer and Nucor flagged serious concerns that without swift action, countries will engage in efforts to flood the U.S. rebar market with cheap products to edge out US competition.
“The steel we use to build our businesses and buildings should be proudly stamped ‘Made in the U.S.A.’ and more of it should come from Nucor, but for that to happen, we must stop foreign companies from dumping artificially cheap steel on our shores,” said Schumer. “Great manufacturers like Nucor are ready to provide high quality steel for the upcoming construction season, but anticompetitive practices from foreign producers threaten jobs at companies here in the United States. The Commerce Department needs to crack down on foreign steel companies who artificially lower their prices to put Nucor on a level playing field. If up against fair competition, I know Nucor will win, which would boost jobs right here in New York at a company that supports over 300 jobs in Cayuga County’s back yard.”
Schumer joined steel workers and Cayuga County officials as he announced his push to get the Commerce Department to crack down on foreign steel manufactures who are exporting their artificially cheaper products in American markets. Nucor Corporation currently employs over 300 workers in Auburn, as well as over 20,500 employees in other facilities across the country.
Schumer noted that steel companies across the Empire State utilize Nucor steel, whether it’s for military plate purposes or simply for raw material supply like rebar. However, unfair foreign competition threatens Nucor’s market. Schumer said there was substantial evidence that, for example, steel companies in Turkey were receiving energy subsidies from the Turkish government, which allowed them to unfairly lower their prices and undercut US producers like Nucor. To correct for these uncompetitive practices from foreign producers, the Commerce Department calculates the difference between the price of a foreign company’s product in the US and the price in the company’s home country or third market, and then, if needed, can determine to levy a duty at import to bring the price of the imported good up to normal value.
In a recent preliminary ruling, the Commerce Department found that foreign steel manufacturers in Turkey were being subsidized in the energy market, but that these subsidies were too small to be considered for imposing a duty. Schumer, along with a bipartisan group of Senators including Sens. Pryor (D-AR) and Graham (R-SC), is sending a letter to the Commerce Department stating that given the energy-intensive process of making rebar steel, any government’s energy subsidy could significantly impact a company’s prices. Therefore, Schumer is urging the Commerce Department to more strongly consider the potential for unfair practices of foreign steel companies and the impact those practices have on domestic producers like Nucor.
Nucor Corporation is the largest domestic steel manufacturer in the United States. In 2001, Nucor invested $115 million to acquire what was then a failing steel-making facility in Auburn. In the decade since that acquisition, Nucor has invested an additional $40 million to modernize or upgrade the core components of the steel melting, casting and rolling operations. Nucor’s Auburn facility produces a range of carbon steel products including reinforcing bars and employs over 300 people.
A copy of Schumer’s letter to the Secretary Pritzker appears below:
Dear Secretary Prizker,
We write to you regarding countervailing duty and antidumping investigations being conducted by the U.S. Department of Commerce on imports of steel reinforcing bar (rebar) from Turkey and Mexico. As the Department investigates dumping and subsidies, we respectfully request that the domestic rebar industry be given full consideration. American businesses and workers expect that the Department will find dumping and subsidization where it is occurring, and will prosecute unfair trade practices to the full extent of the law.
Rebar is one of the largest volume steel products produced in the U.S., employing more than 10,000 workers in over 30 states. With nearly 7 million tons of domestic production, a healthy rebar industry is critical to a strong economy. However, it is our understanding that imports from Turkey and Mexico are surging into the U.S., nearly doubling from 2011 to 2013. The widespread impact these unfairly-traded rebar imports are having on industry and communities across the country is extremely troubling and must be addressed.
The International Trade Commission recently found that Mexican and Turkish rebar producers are consistently underselling U.S. producers, resulting in substantial lost sales and depressed prices. Subsequently, the Department of Commerce made a preliminary finding that the Government of Turkey bestows energy subsidies to its rebar industry, but that such subsidies are only de minimis in value. This seems surprising given the inherently energy-intensive nature of steel production.
It is essential that we do everything that we can do to prevent unfairly-traded imports from negatively impacting good-paying American jobs, especially in these challenging economic times. We urge you to take the necessary actions to strictly and fully enforce our trade laws.