The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), representing America's domestic steel industry, has issued its policy priorities for strengthening the US economy and creating jobs, in a statement released a day before US President Barack Obama's annual State of the Union address to Congress on January 27.
In its statement, the AISI has defined the key necessity for the US economy as the putting in place of "a pro-manufacturing strategy that will improve the competitiveness of our nation's manufacturers" and has defined the following policy priorities for the US government:
Transportation/Infrastructure: Invest in America's infrastructure in order to create long-term jobs and increase demand for domestic manufactured products, focusing on high value-added projects, such as replacement and repair of bridges, renewable energy projects and oil and gas pipelines.
Trade: Keep US trade laws strong, strictly enforcing them and expanding rules-based, reciprocal trade and get tough with China's protectionist, mercantilist policies while enforcing ‘Buy American provisions' for iron, steel and other manufactured goods.
Climate and Energy: Pursue climate change policies that seek a global solution but maintain the competitiveness of energy-intensive US manufacturers by investing in green, affordable and abundant sources of energy such as nuclear and offshore resources while using the sector for job creation.