Washington, Mar 26, 2003 - America needs a healthy domestic steel industry and we must protect the steelworkers who built up this great nation.

But between 1997 and 2002, America’s steel industry and its workers were under attack by foreign companies illegally dumping steel into the American economy, sending 35 steel companies into bankruptcy and costing 54,000 industry employees their jobs.

As a result, I am proud of the efforts of the Steel Caucus, which continually advocated for the Administration to initiate a Section 201 steel investigation into these imports. We also succeeded in pushing the International Trade Commission to recognize the devastating effect of steel imports through a finding of injury. We even gathered with 25,000 steelworkers on the ellipse to make sure the President imposed an effective tariff to help stem the tide of imports.

One year later, this remedy is working and it must be continued. In my hometown of Cleveland, it helped us find a new owner to keep our steel mills running. Industry-wide since the Section 201 relief was implemented, domestic steel is beginning to see signs of a recovery: domestic producers have experienced incremental improvements in revenues, operating income, and capacity utilization.

Additionally, the industry has made significant progress toward restructuring and consolidation. The International Steel Group (ISG), which came into existence following its purchase of LTV, has agreed to acquire the assets of Bethlehem Steel. US Steel announced plans to purchase National Steel. Section 201 relief, if allowed to run its course, will result in a more competitive domestic industry.

The tariffs have also caused a modest price recovery in industry. Prices for hot rolled steel rose from historic lows of only $210 per ton in December 2001 to around $300 per ton today. But even so, prices for all major flat rolled products are still below 20-year historical averages, and steel imports still remain approximately 25 percent of the market.

The tariffs were a good start, and they must be allowed to continue. The United States has finally made clear that it is no longer willing to serve as the World’s Steel Dumping Ground. The United States has also made clear that the national security of our country requires a strong and viable domestic steel supplier base. Only the continuation of the 201 tariffs will mitigate the harm of unfairly traded imports and assist the industry in a critical recovery. Keep the steel tariffs working!