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Washington, DC - Three members of the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition (CITAC) will testify at today's U.S. International Trade Commission's Section 201 (Global Safeguard) investigation hearing that access to steel imports is critical to the survival of steel consuming industries in the United States. "There are 12.8 million American workers and more than 100,000 businesses in this country that use steel products in their operations (more than 50 times as many jobs as in steel production)," stated John C. Kennedy, President and CEO of Autocam Corporation. "These companies risk hardship and, in some cases, extinction if access to imports is restricted." Autocam, ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the best small public companies nationwide, is a worldwide manufacturer of precision machined components for the automotive, computer and medical instrument industries. In addition to Kennedy, William E. Sopko, President of Stamco Industries, Inc., (Euclid, Ohio) and Chairman of the Precision Metalforming Association, and CITAC Counsel Lewis E. Leibowitz of Hogan & Hartson LLP will testify at the hearing to urge the ITC to consider the importance to steel consuming industries of access to steel imports and the importance of the International Trade Commission's consideration of steel users' needs. The ITC is conducting seven days of hearings over the next three weeks during the "injury phase" of its investigation to determine whether steel imports are a "substantial cause of serious injury or threat of serious injury to the U.S. industry or industries." "We know that many products are not available from domestic sources and that the U.S. industry cannot produce enough steel to satisfy the American market," Lewis Leibowitz stated in his written testimony. "Therefore, we urge the Commission to consider, in the injury phase, whether imports of specific 'niche' products that do not compete with domestic production can properly be deemed a cause, substantial or otherwise, of 'serious injury.'" CITAC will also publish today an interactive map of the United States on its website (www.citac-trade.org) containing detailed statistics showing the number of steel consuming jobs versus steel producing jobs by state, Congressional district and county. A CITAC study published earlier this year showed that steel quotas - a possible result of the Section 201 investigation - could cost American consumers as much as $2.34 billion annually or up to $565,000 per steel job. In addition, as many as nine American jobs in steel consuming industries could be lost for every steel industry job protected.
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