USW Tells China: Lay off U.S. Trade Cases

by James Parks, May 1, 2009

The United Steelworkers (USW) called on the Obama administration to reject efforts by the Chinese government to undermine the rule of law in two separate U.S. trade cases currently under investigation.

China’s People’s Daily reported April 29 that China’s vice minister of commerce met with U.S. embassy officials in Beijing “to negotiate on two trade remedy investigations targeting Chinese-made products that U.S. industries recently filed with the U.S. government.”

The USW says the published article makes it clear the Chinese government is pressuring the United States to prevent these cases from being decided on the facts, while urging the Obama White House to reject import relief, despite thousands of permanent job losses and facility shutdowns. Read the People’s Daily article here.

The cases, filed by the USW and domestic producers, seek penalties against China for illegally dumping into the Unired States imports of consumer tires and stainless steel pipes used to extract oil or gas from drill wells. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and the U.S. Department of Commerce are investigating the cases.

USW President Leo Gerard says:

China’s Ministry of Commerce reflects a total lack of respect for the rule of law that characterizes the U.S. administrative and judicial system. There is no place for the type of implied threats and pressure made by China…on these cases. It is simply incredible that the Chinese government would attempt to undermine a remedy they accepted as part of its…commitments to join the WTO (World Trade Organization) in 2001.

Despite the Chinese government’s efforts to interfere in the cases, Gerard says he is confident the Obama administration and the ITC will both conduct their investigations and their deliberations consistent with the laws.

The USW petition against China on consumer tire imports into the United States claims nearly 7,000 U.S. tire workers have been affected by six factory shutdowns since 2004. In the other petition, the union says about 2,000 workers were laid off by U.S. producers who make the stainless steel oil- and gas-extraction pipes. Chinese exports of both products into the United States have tripled in recent years, according to the petitions.

The USW complaints are just two of more than 640 trade complaints filed worldwide against China since 1995, Gerard says. “Obviously, this demonstrates that Chinese goods are highly disruptive to domestic country markets and require trade remedies,” he says.

 Gerard adds that the USW “will not stand by while a foreign government attempts to undermine U.S. laws and procedures.”

We will be working with the administration and the Congress to see that all efforts to influence the process by the Chinese government and its agents are placed in the public record. The public has a right to know just how pervasive the efforts are to subvert our system of justice.

The current trade case investigations deserve a process free from Chinese government strong-arm diplomacy.

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