The American Institute of International Steel (AIIS) has written a letter to US President Donald Trump to request the termination to the Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 investigation, which is aimed purportedly at preventing excess steel capacity and surging steel imports from undermining the viability of the US steel industry in the interest of National security, according to a release of the AIIS.
According to the letter, the facts of the matter are that the United States steel industry is already the most protected industry sector in the United States as evidenced by having the majority of all antidumping and countervailing duty orders on the Federal Register today. In addition, the overall domestic steel industry has been profitable, according to Department of Commerce data, since 2009. Any further restrictions on steel imports beyond the existing trade laws will result in global retaliation well outside the steel realm and be severely detrimental to the country’s improving GDP.
The AIIS said in the letter that “Our Institute absolutely respects the need for a strong domestic steel industry, but similarly respectfully submits that providing even more protection for a market that historically needs imported steel is not the prudent path to take. As it is, 19.6 percent on average of all steel imports are being consistently imported by our country’s steel mills themselves in the form of semi-finished products. Let us not attempt to protect the few at the expense of many and terminate the Section 232 investigation now, and keep our country’s ports and associated American workers in the national steel supply chain working.”