In Trade, Too Often, the Victim Is Blamed
A screwy thing happened after the United Steelworkers (USW) and eight domestic steel producers won their trade case late in December against Chinese manufacturers of the steel pipe that’s used for oil and gas drilling.
Instead of describing it as an important victory for U.S. industry and workers, one in which they proved to the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that China violated international trade rules, the corporate media characterized it as Americans unnecessarily picking a fight with China’s government.
That’s exactly what happened in September when the United Steelworkers won tariffs in a trade case regarding imported Chinese tires.
U.S. Jobs Benefit from USITC’s China Pipe Ruling
U.S. workers who manufacture steel pipes won an important battle against unfair and government subsidized China-made pipe imports when the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) unanimously ruled in favor of a petition by the United Steelworkers (USW) and eight U.S. steel pipe makers.
USW President Leo Gerard says the Dec. 31 ruling, which will impose playing-field leveling duties on the subsidized China pipe imports,
makes it clear to American pipe workers and industry that the U.S. government will stand up against China’s violation of fair trade rules when domestic job losses and industry injury are clearly demonstrated.
Tire Industry Jobs Returning After Obama Enforces Trade Laws
Less than three months after President Obama enforced U.S. trade law and provided relief to the domestic tire industry in response to surging exports of tires from China, there are signs the tire industry is rebounding.
Writing on the Campaign for America’s Future website, Dave Johnson reports that Cooper Tires is adding 100 new jobs to its plant in Findlay, Ohio, where unemployment is 9.1 percent. He quotes Findlay’s Mayor Pete Sehnert who told Toledo on the Move.com:
That’s 100 more people working. That’s 100 more people spending their money in our community, paying their bills, paying their taxes so it means a lot.
Obama Enforces Trade Laws on China Tire Imports
President Obama took decisive action yesterday to provide relief to the domestic consumer tire industry in response to surging exports of tires from China. His actions will bring relief to many workers and their families and reverse course after eight years of neglect of trade laws by the Bush administration.
In July, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled in favor of a United Steelworkers (USW) petition filed under Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974. The ITC found that tariff relief was needed to urgently reduce the negative impact of those tire imports. Obama’s decision imposes an increased duty on tires from China for three years. The duties are 35 percent in the first year, then 30 percent and 25 percent in each of the following years.
USW Tells China to Stop Treading on U.S. Tire Makers
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Chinese tire makers are treading on the U.S. tire industry, dumping more than 46 million low-cost tires into this country last year alone to be sold in stores like Wal-Mart, among others. The result, unfortunately, is all too familiar: Cheap imports = lost jobs and shattered communities.
The United Steelworkers (USW), which represents most of the U.S. tire workers, is demanding that the Obama administration act forcefully to restore a balanced trading field. The union wants the administration to impose tough tariffs on Chinese tires for at least three years.
Last month, the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) ruled in favor of a USW petition filed under Section 421 of the Trade Act of 1974. The USITC found that tariff relief was needed to urgently reduce those tire imports. Evidence showed that more than 5,100 domestic consumer tire production jobs were lost between 2004 and 2008 by the flood of Chinese tire imports that undersold producers in the United States. Domestic tire companies have announced they will close more plants and eliminate another 3,000 jobs by the end of this year.
U.S. Trade Commission Rules for USW in China Tire Import Case
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The International Trade Commission (ITC) today ruled in favor of a trade petition filed in April by the United Steelworkers (USW) to slow a torrent of tire exports to the United States during the past several years. Those exports have cost thousands of U.S. jobs.
According to the USW petition, nearly 5,100 U.S. tire workers have lost their jobs as a result of massive erosion in the domestic market since 2004. The loss of jobs coincides with a huge surge in imports of consumer tires from China. Some 3,000 more jobs are slated to be lost by year’s end as three U.S. plants are threatened with closure.
USW Tells China: Lay off U.S. Trade Cases
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.
