The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) said the House passage Friday of a compromise agreement on a trade enforcement measure is a “positive step for the steel industry to address the evasion of trade remedy orders that has severely impacted our companies and our workers.”
By a vote of 256-158, the House passed the conference report of the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act (H.R.644) which includes the ENFORCE Act, a long-standing priority focus for steel as it provides the domestic industry with new tools to address the evasion of antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders. The measure would ensure that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials investigate industry claims of AD/CVD evasion by set statutory deadlines.
Thomas J. Gibson, president and CEO of AISI, said, “We commend the leadership of the Congressional Steel Caucus, and many of our steel champions in Congress, who worked with us and our member companies to make sure the steel industry’s dire situation was front and center in trade debates. While we may have won some battles, we are still fighting the war—to combat trade distorting practices of foreign producers and governments. Today’s victory is a positive step, however, and we urge the Senate to pass this bill quickly and the President to sign it into law next week,” Gibson concluded.