U.S. Steel Corporation’s Section 337 complaint against 40 Chinese based steel companies includes allegations of illegal conspiracy to fix prices and control output and export volumes; the theft of trade secrets by industrial espionage; and the circumvention of hard won duties ordered by the International Trade Commission and Department of Commerce by false labeling and transshipment; due to the recent downturn in steel production in the U.S., more than 12,000 hardworking Americans have been laid off

Following a bipartisan letter from Klobuchar and Coats earlier this week to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, the Administration announced it will initiate an investigation  

WASHINGTON, DC—Following an effort by U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Dan Coats (R-IN), the International Trade Commission (ITC) announced it will investigate unfair trade practices by Chinese steel producers and distributers. U.S. Steel’s Section 337 complaint against 40 Chinese based steel companies includes allegations of illegal conspiracy to fix prices and control output and export volumes; the theft of trade secrets by industrial espionage; and the circumvention of hard won duties ordered by the ITC and Department of Commerce by false labeling and transshipment. Due to the recent downturn in steel production in the U.S., more than 12,000 hardworking Americans have been laid off. Following a bipartisan letter from Klobuchar and Coats earlier this week to U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, the Administration announced it will initiate an investigation.

“Unfair trade practices by Chinese steel producers and distributors have harmed our domestic industry and left many workers on the Iron Range without a job to support their families,” said Klobuchar. “I’m pleased the Administration has heeded our bipartisan call to action and will be launching an investigation to crack down on these foreign companies that try to skirt our laws.”

“Given a level playing field, American steel producers will compete and win against the best that the rest of the world has to offer,” said Coats. “We cannot allow foreign competitors to circumvent our laws in an attempt to gain an unfair advantage. I applaud the ITC for heeding the call led by Senator Klobuchar and me to investigate these troublesome allegations.”

In addition to Klobuchar and Coats, the bipartisan letter was also signed by Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Al Franken (D-MN), Joe Donnelly (D-IN), and Mark Kirk (R-IL).

The full text of the lawmakers’ letter from earlier this week is below:

Dear Ambassador Froman,

We write to request the Commission’s full consideration and a robust investigation into the Section 337 complaint filed by United States Steel Corporation against illegal unfair trade practices and the illegal import of mislabeled steel products in the United States. The U. S. Steel Section 337 complaint seeks redress for theft and other violations of U.S. and international trade laws.

The allegations in the complaint are disturbing: illegal conspiracy to fix prices and control output and export volumes; the theft of trade secrets by industrial espionage; and the circumvention of hard won duties ordered by the International Trade Commission (ITC) and Department of Commerce by false labeling and transshipment. Because of these unfair trade practices, steel producers in countries like China have been able to export steel with prices 20 to 50 percent lower than their competitors, which has disrupted the marketplace and continues to cause significant harm to our domestic steel industry.

The impact of Chinese steel produced with these unfair methods of competition and other illegal practices has profoundly harmful impacts on our national economic health and our nation’s national security interests. Due to the recent downturn in steel production in the U.S., more than 12,000 hardworking Americans have been laid off.

We strongly urge you to ensure that United States Steel Corporation is permitted to present its case and go through the discovery process. The steel producers in our states have expressed grave concerns about the impact of illegal trade practices on our economy and our nation’s interests; they deserve the opportunity to examine respondents under penalty of perjury and compel relevant documents. The families of those laid off and local impacted communities deserve a transparent adjudicatory process that will unmask illegal trade practices.

We commend you and the Administration for your efforts to address the global overcapacity of steel and strongly encourage you to make full use of the enhanced remedies provided to you by Congress last year to address steel dumping. We look forward to working with you as the Section 337 action moves forward and to prevent unfairly-traded steel imports from further harming American jobs.

Sincerely,

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