Congressional Steel Caucus hearing touts strong industry: 'real opportunity to rebuild American manufacturing sector'

The annual Congressional Steel Caucus hearing on the state of the steel industry in Washington D.C. touted a strong sector that still faces challenges, such as decarbonization and the threat of imports.

Co-chair Congressman Frank Mrvan said the bipartisan Congressional Steel Caucus continues to advocate for the success of the domestic steel industry and steelworkers, including those in Northwest Indiana.

"I am proud that one of my formative votes in the 117th Congress was for the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which included expanded and strengthened Buy America requirements," he said. "I also am grateful to have advocated with my fellow Steel Caucus leaders and Members for the value and continuation of the Section 232 steel tariffs, and also expressed support through the Appropriations Committee for adequate funding for the International Trade Administration in the Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission."

He's also been advocating for more tariffs targeting foreign steelmakers looking to dump steel that it can't sell in its home markets at a loss in the United States.

"I also am proud to have testified before the International Trade Commission on five different occasions during my first term in Congress, and I look forward to being in front of them again tomorrow," Mrvan said. "All of these initiatives would not be possible without the support and advocacy of my fellow Steel Caucus leaders, members, industry, and members of organized labor and the United Steelworkers."

International President of United Steelworkers Tom Conway said the steel industry continues to thrive despite economic strains.

"Although both the U.S. and the world’s economy are being stressed in significant ways, the fundamentals of the domestic steel industry are strong because of cooperation between industry, government, and labor," he said. "The passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will add between 40 to 50 million tons of steel demand over the course of the next five years. Congress’ addition of the Build America, Buy America provisions require that all federally-financed infrastructure projects use American-made iron and steel. BABA provisions allow for the creation of good-paying jobs and increased demand for the domestic steel industry."

Increased procurement of domestic steel will be a big boon to the industry, Conway said.

"Take for example the Department of Housing and Urban Development: just one account at HUD spends over $400 million dollars annually on clean water and drinking water materials, such as sewer pipe," he said. "Two other agencies already ensure that U.S. workers get the first shot at making those materials. It’s time to harmonize our procurement rules using BABA to maximize domestic manufacturing jobs, and Congress must continue its oversight of these agencies."

Efforts to reduce greenhouse gases should focus on new technologies and preserving jobs and manufacturing capacity, Conway said.

"Domestic efforts to confront climate change create opportunities and challenges," he said. "Expanding clean technology manufacturing, for example, can create opportunity with new demand for steel products that go into wind turbines to smart grid to EV charging infrastructure. The clean tech industry and policymakers must create demand for those domestically produced steel products, and the steel industry must grow the capacity to manufacture them."

Cleveland Cliffs President, Chairman and CEO Lourenco Goncalves, said American manufacturing was due for a revival.

"First — we have, right now, a real opportunity to reverse this misguided 30-plus-year-old failure called globalization. And we can only do that by rebuilding the American manufacturing sector," he said. "Over the past two years, the United States has experienced two painful lessons in over-reliance on other countries: the COVID pandemic, and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The pandemic resulted in the realization by the broader society that the United States has outsourced to China and other nations the production of goods and materials needed for the health of our people and the basic functioning of our economy. Backlogged ports, trucking shortages and customs delays were not the cause of supply chain problems, but rather symptoms of the relentless and systematic outsourcing of American manufacturing."

The events of the last few years have shown that global supply chains are nowhere near as reliable as they had seemed, Goncalves said.

"The second lesson came with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the grim realization that a conventional shooting war between global superpowers is an ever-present threat," he said. "The promise that unrestrained free trade would lead to a lasting global peace is a farce. The invasion was undeniable evidence of the strategic realignment of the world, with the United States and its allies on the side of democratic values, and with Russia and China using unbridled aggression to grow territory, suppress dissent and commit human rights abuses."