AISI commends USTR's vow to crack down on trade violations

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) commended US Trade Representative (USTR) Ron Kirk's comments Thursday regarding the US government's intent to level unfair trade barriers that prevent the trade of US-made goods, taking legal action against governments that are in violation of trade agreements if necessary.

AISI president and CEO Thomas J. Gibson commented in a press release, “America’s steel industry is encouraged by US Trade Representative Ron Kirk’s remarks today and the new emphasis on taking proactive steps to enforce trade rules already on the books and to continue to use available trade remedies to correct market distortions that artificially tilt the playing field against American manufacturers.”

The remarks AISI is referring to were made by Mr. Kirk in a speech at a US Steel Corp. plant Thursday. Mr. Kirk said that the Obama Administration is dedicated to identifying and investigating labor violations in countries with which it has free trade agreements, including China. Kirk said the Obama Administration will do its part to boost trade of American goods and services, by continuing its use of antidumping and anti-subsidy laws as well as planning new initiatives to correct trade distortions. Kirk said the USTR will fight trade cases at the World Trade Organization and in bilateral forums if necessary.

The United States, jointly with the European Union, last month jointly filed a suit with the World Trade Organization against China for unfairly restricting exports of raw materials for production of steel, aluminum and chemicals, which the US and EU argue keeps prices of these products lower for Chinese producers than the global market price, thus giving Chinese industries an unfair competitive advantage.