Jan. 3—President George W. Bush turned his back on several thousand U.S. workers who make steel pipes when he refused Dec. 30 to place limits on Chinese-made steel pipe imports flooding the U.S. market.
“Our pipe workers and their families were delivered a stunning blow by President Bush in his refusal to enforce America’s trade laws following our government’s own investigation that showed China’s imports are unfairly surging into the U.S. market. It’s clear that President Bush has told American workers that he’s not on their side when it comes to advocating a message of fair trade with China,” says USW International Union President Leo W. Gerard.
China’s currency manipulation, export rebate programs and subsidies to steel pipe manufacturers, along with the lack of workers’ rights and environmental regulations, enable China to export the pipe at prices below the cost of raw materials, according to USW and seven steel pipe manufacturers.
In August, they filed what is called a Section 421 petition asking the Bush administration to curb the Chinese pipe imports. Such a petition allows businesses or other groups harmed by imports from nations that engage in unfair trade practices to ask the federal government to limit imports of the products.
Congress passed the Section 421 petition process as an amendment to U.S. trade laws in 2000 in direct response to China’s entrance into the World Trade Organization to send the message that America expects all member countries to play by the rules, Gerard says.
Steel pipe products are used primarily in plumbing, fencing and other construction. As Chinese imports grow, U.S.-made pipe prices have fallen, threatening U.S. manufacturers and jobs. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) projects the imports will grow by at least 60 percent this year.
In October, an ITC report found the Chinese pipe imports threaten the U.S. domestic industry and in a 4-to-2 vote, the ITC recommended Bush approve the Section 421 petition and impose import limits.
“USW members are not going to accept this. We will be raising our voices in the 2006 election to send the message that America’s fair trade laws must be enforced. We cannot afford the loss of family-supportive jobs to unfair trade by China,” Gerard says.
The USW represents most of the 2,500 pipe workers employed at the companies that joined in the Section 421 complaint with plants in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. In addition, UAW members in Carson, Calif., Sheet Metal Workers in Chicago and nonunion workers at a six other plants make steel pipe.
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