The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) issued a statement Monday announcing that, on behalf of its US member companies, AISI submitted a letter to US Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke highlighting the industry's concerns over China's steel industry and its trade-related actions.
The letter was submitted in advance of Ambassador Kirk's and Secretary Locke's upcoming trip to China for the meeting of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade.
In the letter, AISI President and CEO, Thomas J. Gibson, urges Ambassador Kirk and Secretary Locke to address the following issues in their discussions with the Chinese government:
- Chinese government subsidies that promote runaway steel capacity growth;
- Chinese government export incentives that injure steel and other US producers;
- Chinese government currency interventions that threaten the US economic recovery; and
- Chinese government subsidies that exacerbate the US manufacturing trade deficit.
Gibson goes on to state that "US 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."
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." To read the full letter, visit AISI's website at www.steel.org.