CLEVELAND, Ohio – U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and U.S. Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker visited ArcelorMittal in Cleveland today to highlight efforts to support the U.S. steel industry and address its challenges through strong enforcement of trade laws. In response to unfairly traded steel imports, Brown invited Pritzker to Ohio to understand the challenges faced by Ohio’s steel producers. Brown and Pritzker toured ArcelorMittal’s hot dip galvanizing line, and met with workers and ArcelorMittal leadership.

“Cleveland’s ArcelorMittal is a testament to the productivity of our steelworkers and how competitive our steel manufacturers can be. But that success will be threatened if we don’t deal with steel overcapacity long-term,” said Brown. “We must hold China to its trade obligations and that starts with finally reducing steel overcapacity that hurts U.S. workers. I’m grateful Secretary Pritzker accepted my invitation to visit Ohio and learn firsthand what our steel companies face each day.”

“The United States steel industry faces significant competitive challenges from unfairly traded steel imports. Domestic steel producers and our workers are suffering as a result of these imports,” said John Brett, president and CEO for ArcelorMittal USA. “Our antidumping and countervailing duty laws are the most important tools available to us to combat unfair trade and allow us to compete at home and in the global marketplace. On behalf of the 20,000 ArcelorMittal employees in the United States, we extend our appreciation to Secretary Pritzker, Senator Brown and all those working tirelessly to strengthen and enforce our U.S. trade laws.” 

Brown, co-chair of the Senate Steel Caucus, has led efforts to support the domestic steel industry and worked to crack down on countries that unfairly import their products into the U.S. In April, Brown called on the Administration to bring a World Trade Organization (WTO) case against China in an efforts to address steel overcapacity, which has hurt the domestic steel industry.

The Leveling the Playing Field Act, introduced by Brown in March 2015 and signed into law in June 2015, has restored strength to antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) statutes that allow businesses and workers in the United States to petition the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission (ITC) when foreign producers sell goods in the U.S. below market price or receive illegal subsidies. Brown has testified on behalf of U.S. companies before the ITC.

 

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