CITAC Steel Task Force Position on Steel Tariffs

• The steel tariffs imposed by President Bush on March 5 have caused havoc with steel consumers in the form of dramatically higher prices, long lead times, broken contracts and short supply, and the situation is getting worse, not better.

• The President has the authority to amend or rescind these tariffs at or before the midpoint of the three-year remedy period.

• Steel users are caught in a squeeze-raw material prices are rising dramatically, they can't pass the price increases on to their customers, and to top it off, they can't even source enough steel at any price.

• The economic disruptions to steel users are severe, and the impact is spreading throughout the economy because of the impacts on major industries like automobile manufacturers.

• Many steel-using businesses will not make it through three years of these tariffs. Jobs are being lost to foreign producers of steel-containing products, and they won't come back.

• These tariffs are not saving the steel industry, they are killing the steel industry's customer base. With 59 employees in steel-using industries for every one employee in steel-producing industries, the potential economic dislocation is enormous.

Members of the CITAC Steel Task Force urgently request your support for:

1. A thorough review of the economic impacts of the steel tariffs, at the earliest possible time, to determine how quickly they can be removed.

2. Continued monitoring of the progress of the domestic steel industry toward restructuring itself to be competitive on a global basis following removal of the tariffs.

3. Trade policy revisions that ensure full consideration of downstream economic impacts in future trade decisions.

Additional Papers

Trade Restraints On Steel Are Not The Answer. Read

Section 201 Tariff Remedies Have Harmed U.S. Steel Consuming Manufacturers Read

Section 201 Tariffs And Antidumping Measures Stop Imports That American Industry Needs: The Example of Cold-Rolled Steel. Read