Leading US iron and steel associations urge Biden to keep steel tariffs

Four of America's leading iron and steel associations and the United Steelworkers' Union have called on President-elect Joe Biden to ensure that the steel tariffs and quotas introduced in 2018 to protect national security are maintained.

In a letter to the President-elect, the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), the United Steelworkers' Union (USW), the Pipe and Tube Import Committee (CPTI) and the American Steel Building Institute (AISC), urged: [steel] quotas are needed to ensure the viability of the domestic steel industry in the face of this huge and growing surplus of steel capacity. Removing or relaxing these measures before large steelmaking countries eliminate their excess capacity - as well as subsidies and other trade-distorting measures that fueled the steel crisis - will only trigger a new surge in imports, with devastating consequences for domestic steel producers and their workers. "

The letter said the OECD last year predicted excess steel production capacity would rise to 700 million metric tons in 2020 - eight times the total U.S. steel production last year. China, Vietnam and Turkey, among others, continue to ramp up steel production, despite the pandemic dropping global steel demand. Korea, Russia, Ukraine, Indonesia and other countries continue to export a significant portion of their steel products to other markets.

“Unfortunately, the recovery in the steel industry was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused a significant drop in demand last spring, causing painful job cuts as steel mills, pipe makers and pipe mills either cut production or shut down completely. As customers resumed production, the steel industry began to recover, but we are still very vulnerable to new surges in imports, ”the groups wrote.

“We stand ready to work with your administration to correct the distortions in the global steel trade that continue to threaten our industry and its workers,” they concluded.