Mrvan Leads Congressional Steel Caucus Letter to Administration in Support of Expanded Steel Tariffs
Washington, DC – Today, Rep. Frank Mrvan, Vice Chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus, along with Congressional Steel Caucus Chairman Rick Crawford (AR-01), sent a letter to the Administration expressing support for expanding the Section 232 Steel Tariffs to address a recent surge of certain steel imports.
Specifically, the letter to the Secretary of the Department of Commerce expresses concern over the recent surge of imports of fabricated structural steel and prestressed concrete strand products and supports the request made by the domestic steel industry to include such products under the Section 232 Steel Tariffs.
Vice Chairman Mrvan stated, “As the Vice Chairman of the Congressional Steel Caucus, I believe that every action must be taken to ensure that the domestic steel industry and our hard-working members of the United Steelworkers are able to compete in our global economy. I am proud to have supported the Section 232 Steel Tariffs since day one, and believe we must continue to look for new ways to utilize this tool to hold foreign countries that cheat accountable and support the strength of the American steel industry.”
Chairman Crawford stated, “Thanks to the Section 232 Tariffs, American steel producers have been able to compete on a far more level playing field than ever before. Unfortunately, foreign entities have been sidestepping these tariffs by flooding the market with derivative steel products. We have an obligation to protect the American steel industry from these unfair practices.”
USW President David McCall stated, “Global overcapacity and unfair trade have for too long undercut our nation’s domestic steel industry, compromising our ability to meet our own national security needs. Now, as we’re making historic investments to rebuild our infrastructure, we must ensure we’re using high-quality domestic products. Our union commends Reps. Crawford and Mrvan for their tireless advocacy in preserving and expanding Section 232 measures so that we can strengthen our supply chains, maintain jobs and keep our communities safe.”
The text of the letter is below and a pdf is available here.
Dear Secretary Raimondo:
As Chairman and Vice Chairman of the bipartisan Congressional Steel Caucus, we write today to express our concerns regarding the recent surge of imports of fabricated structural steel (FSS) and prestressed concrete strand (PC Strand) products and our support for the request made by the domestic steel industry to include such products as derivative products covered under Section 232.
We recognize and appreciate the substantial role that the U.S. Department of Commerce (Commerce) has already played in curbing unfair trade practices to ensure that American producers can compete on a level playing field. Your work in implementing Section 232 has been a lifeline for the American steel industry and its workforce. We are committed to working with the Administration to strengthen these measures to further combat government-supported overcapacity in global markets and circumvention of existing trade measures.
To that end, we urge Commerce to explore options to expand Section 232 protections for certain downstream products, particularly FSS and PC Strand. While Section 232 measures have been relatively effective at countering dumping practices on upstream products, the current lack of protections on downstream products has left a major loophole for bad actors to exploit. Since implementing Section 232 measures in 2018, FSS and PC Strand imports have surged. By 2023, FSS imports had expanded 84% by volume and 102% by value as compared to 2019. Likewise, PC strand has averaged a 14% import increase in the 5 years following Section 232 (2019-2023) compared to the five years prior (2014-2018). Additionally, in 2022 and 2023, the domestic steel industry capacity utilization rate decreased. This brought the U.S. steel industry further below the 80% threshold Commerce found as the critical point to protect national security and used as the main justification for implementing Section 232 measures. We cannot continue to allow foreign actors an avenue to erode our steel industry.
Unfortunately, workers have already borne some of the effects of import pressures from flooded markets, as a company in South Carolina recently shut down a wire rod line. We request swift action to prevent further losses caused by over-subsidized foreign steel in our markets.
Following the implementation of Section 232 measures, Commerce correctly identified surging imports of derivative steel products as a circumvention of the rule. We appreciate the government’s diligence across two administrations to implement and then defend in court an expansion of Section 232 to cover certain steel derivative products. Consistent with these previous actions, we believe FSS and PC Strand should be included with the other derivative products protected by Section 232, which includes steel nails, tacks, drawing pins, corrugated nails, and staples.
The circumvention methods used by foreign entities to avoid Section 232 tariffs are not sophisticated, but they have proven effective. A simple fix to the loophole they are exploiting by adding FSS and PC Strand to Section 232 will have an outsized impact on U.S. jobs, industry, and national security. Thank you for your consideration of our request and your department’s continuing hard work to protect American steel production.
Sincerely,
Rep. Eric A. ‘Rick’ Crawford - Chairman
Rep. Frank J. Mrvan - Vice Chairman
The Congressional Steel Caucus is a bipartisan group of over 100 Members of Congress dedicated to supporting the health and strength of the American steel industry and its workforce.
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