Washington, DC, April 13, 2016 – Kimberly Korbel, AWPA Executive Director, testified at the hearing convened by the US Trade Representative to better understand the issues the domestic industry faces with global over capacity of steel.  She stated, “The US wire industry is often overlooked when policymakers, commentators, and the press address the fundamental issues in today’s global steel market. Our member companies face the same problems caused by overcapacity, subsidy programs, and other unfair trade practices—particularly by China—that affect the basic steel industry.” She also discussed the difficulties wire companies face in combating unfair trade practices: “With literally hundreds and even thousands of different wire products subject to intense pressure from imports, the traditional trade remedies—while important—can provide only limited relief.  I say this because wire companies cannot file ONE petition to address unfair imports. They cannot afford to file individual petitions on each and every product.”

Kimberly Korbel testified on behalf of the American Wire Producers Association, a trade association representing the vast majority of carbon, alloy, and stainless steel wire and wire products manufactured in the US. AWPA member companies employ more than 22,000 workers and contribute in excess of $11 billion annually to the US economy.

Korbel argued that “given the prevalence of unfairly-traded imports from China and other countries, and given the nature of the wire and wire products industry, we submit that one of the few comprehensive means of dealing with the problem is to address the structural imbalances and distortions in the global steel market.”

AWPA submitted comments to USTR in late March, and in both their comments, and in Ms. Korbel’s testimony, the AWPA asked that the US take the following actions:

(1)      Negotiate meaningful and enforceable reductions of excess capacity in the steel industries of China and other countries, INCLUDING wire and wire products capacity.

(2)      Negotiate to eliminate the pervasive subsidy programs in China and other countries.

(3)      Ensure that any remedy undertaken by the U.S. Government takes into consideration the effect of that remedy on the downstream sectors of the steel manufacturing supply chain.

(4)      Insist on the elimination of Chinese border tax schemes that promote exports of finished downstream products while discouraging exports of raw materials and other inputs.

(5)      Ensure that U.S. Customs, has the resources to investigate and take enforcement action

(6)      Take remedial action to ensure that China and other trading partners cease to manipulate their currencies.

In addition to submitting comments to USTR, AWPA has joined Manufacturers for Trade Enforcement, a coalition of leading US industry groups opposed to the automatic granting of market economy status for China. Through this coalition, AWPA will continue to advocate for measures to address global steel oversupply.

A transcript of Ms. Korbel’s testimony, along with AWPA’s comments to USTR and other documents, are available on the AWPA website, here.

For more information, please contact AWPA’s Director of Government Relations, Janet Kopenhaver, jkopenhaver@awpa.org.