Making steel is a part of Ohio’s identity. Ohio is the number two steel-producing state in the country, and 54 of Ohio’s 88 counties have at least one iron and steel industry establishment. Senator Portman is working deliver results to keep these good jobs right here in the Buckeye State.

That’s why, when Zhongwang USA, a Chinese-controlled company, proposed to buy Cleveland’s Aleris Corporation, Portman spoke out. On Wednesday, Portman contacted Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and urged him to reject this proposed acquisition, which would jeopardize our national security and threaten Ohio manufacturing. Moreover, Portman has, for years, raised concerns about possibly unfair imports from their parent company, Zhongwang International Group, which is under investigation by the Department of Commerce for breaking our trade laws. 

Union leaders have taken notice of Portman’s efforts. After Portman’s letter to Secretary Lew, United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard issued the following statement:

“[This] bipartisan letter will help ensure that the transaction be closely reviewed and rejected. Aluminum is a critical material used throughout aerospace, automotive, electrical transmission and other sectors. Aleris and its highly skilled work force has been a leader in developing cutting-edge applications for aluminum. Its ballistic-resistant products are used in a number of military applications. China has targeted the sector for development and domination, and the proposed acquisition by Zhongwang is part of that overall strategy.

“Several weeks ago, press reports highlighted Zhongwang's extensive attempts to circumvent and evade U.S. trade laws for Chinese-produced aluminum. The Department of Homeland Security has now launched an investigation into the parent company of the firm seeking to acquire Aleris. China Zhongwang Holdings Ltd.'s network of activities is designed to undermine its competitors. The transaction must be rejected on both national and economic security grounds.

"China's leaders have pushed its major state-owned and private companies to invest overseas, acquire technologies and manufacturing know-how, and expand their market share. The country continues to build up massive overcapacity in the aluminum sector and decimate U.S. production.  This transaction is part of a broader economic plan.

"It's time for America to stand up and fight for our jobs and our future."

President Gerard isn’t alone in recognizing Senator Portman’s efforts. Here’s what other steel industry leaders have been saying about Senator Portman’s efforts to help Ohio steelworkers:

• “AK Steel and other domestic steelmakers have faced a tidal wave of what we believe are unfairly traded imports. Senator Portman has been a leader in championing improvements to the trade laws which help level the playing field so our industry can remain competitive." –James L. Wainscott, CEO of AK Steel

•  “We need governments throughout the steel producing world to come together to make clear to China that they need to reduce their excess capacity in steel making—the way a market-based economy would—rather than exporting it. Senator Portman understands this and we are grateful for his support of the American steel industry.” – Daniel Mull, Executive Vice President for Sales and Marketing of ArcelorMittal USA.

• “We applaud Senator Rob Portman’s leadership …and for his continued efforts to address the crisis of global overcapacity in the steel industry.” – Mario Longhi, President and CEO, United States Steel Corporation

• “China continues to work overtime to undermine the American steel industry at every turn. Senator Portman has worked tirelessly to protect Ohio steel companies and their workers from unfair foreign competition.” – Tim Timken. President and CEO TimkenSteel

• “The American steel industry is in crisis due to a surge of imports created by massive global overcapacity and fed by foreign government subsidies. Unless the U.S. government and its trading partners act swiftly and decisively, we will see devastating long-term effects. Senator Portman understands that the only advantage state-owned and state-supported steel companies, like those in China, have over U.S. producers is that they do not have to generate a return on capital. We thank the Senator for standing with us …and calling for decisive action to prevent further harm to the American steel industry and its workers.” – John Ferriola, Chairman, President and CEO of the Nucor Corporation

Portman has been awarded the “Congressional Steel Champion Award” for his work to protect the steel industry and Ohio steelworkers.  Here’s a look at how Senator Portman has delivered for Ohio steelworkers over the last five years:

Authored Trade Laws To Protect Ohio Workers

Leveling the Playing Field for Ohio Steelworkers. Portman co-authored bipartisan legislation with Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), which was signed into law last June, called the Leveling the Playing Field Act. It gives U.S. manufacturers new tools to fight against unfair trade practices and protect hard-working Ohio steel workers. The law makes it easier for businesses and workers in the United States to petition the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission (ITC) when foreign producers sell goods in the U.S. below market price or receive illegal subsidies. The law benefits, among others, Ohio’s steel companies including: Picoma Industries in Cambridge, Sharon Tube in Niles, Wheatland Tube in Warren, Vallourec Star in Youngstown, and AK Steel.

Cracking down on Illegal Imports. Portman also worked across the aisle to secure passage of the ENFORCE Act, legislation that will help crack down on efforts by foreign countries to illegally import goods and circumvent our trade laws. These critical protections were signed into law by President Obama in February.

Helping Steelworkers Who’ve Lost Jobs. Senator Portman has also consistently voted for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA), which provides financial benefits, tax credits for health insurance, and job training to those who lose their jobs because of foreign competition.

Extending the Health Care Tax Credit.  Portman and Senator Brown successfully authored a critical extension of the Health Care Tax Credit, which helps steelworkers and other Americans who receive TAA benefits or have had their defined benefit pension plans taken over by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC), such as thousands of Delphi salaried retirees in Ohio along with many retired United Steelworkers. And when the IRS did not follow the Portman-authored law, Portman and Brown spoke out and demanded answers from the agency.

Holding Foreign Competitors Accountable

In addition to fighting for trade laws that protect Ohio steelworkers, Senator Portman has worked extensively to ensure that these laws are implemented and executed fairly and more effectively.

Urging the ITC To Do Its Job. In April, Senator Portman testified before the International Trade Commission (ITC) on behalf of Ohio steelworkers who are facing the devastating effects of global steel overcapacity caused by China. “Steelworkers are doing their part producing the highest quality product anywhere, more efficiently than ever,” Portman said. “We must do our part and enforce our trade laws aggressively so they can compete on a level playing field.”

Full Enforcement of the Leveling the Playing Field Act. Senator Portman has repeatedly urged the Commerce Department to fully enforce the Leveling the Playing Field Act to ensure that domestic manufacturers and their employees, including steelworkers, get the relief they deserve from unfair trading practices.

Winning Trade Enforcement and Export Cases. Senator Portman has led efforts to help steel companies and their workers win trade enforcement and export cases.

• In May, Portman urged the ITC to fully use the tools given them in the Leveling the Playing Field Act when determining whether dumping or subsidies were causing material injuries to companies like ArcelorMittal, AK Steel, Nucor, and U.S. Steel. Portman’s testimony led to three three big wins for these companies, with duties as high as 265% now being placed on steel coming in from places like China. In September, ArcelorMittal Cleveland plant Manager Eric Hague sent Sen. Portman a letter stating that Arcelor had recently hired 70 new employees and hoped to hire more due to these trade wins.

• Last year, Senator Portman and Senator Brown urged the ITC to protect United Steelworkers from unfairly subsidized and undersold imports from five countries including China, Brazil and Indonesia.  In February of 2016, the ITC agreed and ruled to help protect Ohio steelworkers.

• Last February, following a meeting with United Steelworkers workers from Cooper Tire in Findlay to discuss the challenges posed by unfairly imported Chinese tires that violate trade laws, Portman got involved and the ITC ruled in favor of the United Steelworkers and Ohio jobs.

• In 2014, Portman and Senator Brown succeeded in urging the ITC to protect Ohio oil country steel manufacturers and the jobs they support. Following months of efforts by the Senators, the ITC ruled that it would impose tariffs on countries such as South Korea that illegally dump their oil country steel in the American market and threaten American competitiveness with unfair imports.

• In August of 2014, Senator Portman, on behalf of JMC Steel in Warren, Vallourec Star in Youngstown, TMK IPSCO in Brookfield, and U. S. Steel in Lorain, urged the ITC to investigate the dumping of Oil Country Tubular Goods by nine countries, including South Korea and India. The ITC ruled that dumping had, in fact, occurred, and imposed anti-dumping duties on six countries as a result.

• In June 2013, the ITC ruled in favor of maintaining the existing anti-dumping orders against unfairly traded imports of steel concrete rebar. Two months before, Senator Portman, Senator Brown, and a bipartisan group of senators urged the ITC to maintain antidumping orders covering imported steel concrete reinforcing bar. This protects American-made rebar, including that produced at Nucor Steel Marion, Inc. and Cincinnati’s David J. Joseph Company & Byer Steel Group, from rebar imports that are illegally undercutting the U.S. market.

• In 2013, Portman successfully worked with Brown to maintain existing anti-dumping orders (through 2018) on unfairly traded hot-rolled steel. The decision followed efforts by both senators to urge the ITC to maintain trade orders that would help ensure a level playing field for an already vulnerable domestic steel industry, including Ohio-based steel producers like ArcelorMittal of Cleveland and AK Steel of Middletown.

• In 2012, at Senator Portman’s urging, the ITC voted to extend the antidumping order on tapered roller bearings (TRBs) from China and thereby to protect U.S. tapered roller bearing products, including products made at three Ohio manufacturing facilities, from unfair dumping of Chinese products in U.S. markets. In June 2012, Portman contacted the ITC to urge the extension of these orders that were set to expire. Without this extension, Chinese dumping would likely have worsened, resulting in lost jobs for Ohio steel workers.

• In 2011, Portman and Brown, along with 10 of their colleagues, sent a letter to the Chairman of the ITC on how hot-rolled steel imports from Brazil, Japan, and Russia are having a negative impact on the domestic hot rolled steel industry. Ultimately, the ITC sided with Senator Portman and decided to maintain until 2018 existing antidumping duties (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders against unfairly traded imports of hot-rolled steel.

Fighting Currency Manipulation.

Taking on China—and Republican Leadership. No one, Republican or Democrat, has done more to fight currency manipulation. Senator Portman has taken on Republican leadership and many Democrats in his support of Ohio workers.  During the trade debate last year, he offered the first amendment to add explicit and enforceable currency language to ensure that foreign competitors don't use their exchange rates to subsidize their exports at the expense of products made by American workers. No one was more relentless in promoting this cause. Watch Portman’s remarks on the Senate floor here, here, here, and here. Or his remarks on this issue in the Senate Finance Committee here, here, and here.

In 2011, Senator Portman voted for the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act, bipartisan legislation which would use U.S. trade law to counter the economic harm to U.S. manufacturers caused by currency manipulation and would provide consequences for countries that fail to adopt appropriate policies to eliminate currency misalignment.

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