Trade Cases

Steel industry groups urge House action on LTPF 2.0

Written by Ethan Bernard

July 26, 2024

Six steel industry organizations have urged House Speaker Mike Johnson to include the Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act in any proposed package of legislation against China’s “unfair” trade practices.

The Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM), the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports (CPTI), the Specialty Steel Industry of North America (SSINA), and the United Steelworkers (USW) wrote a letter to Rep. Johnson (R-La.) on July 25.

“Any legislative package on China needs to address its most dangerous methods of destroying American jobs and industries,” the letter says. “We urge you to support American workers and industry and show China that it cannot simply continue to dodge our trade remedies.”

The groups noted that passing the Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act “will send a strong signal that we will not stand by idly as China attempts to dominate manufacturing globally.”

SMA

“We urgently need this legislation to put a stop to unfair trade practices that hurt steel producers in America and their workers, and we want to make sure Speaker Johnson knows how important it is to include Leveling in the upcoming China package,” SMA President Philip K. Bell said in a statement on Friday.

AISI

Likewise, AISI President and CEO Kevin Dempsey expressed a similar sentiment.

“We need the Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act to update our laws to address cross-border subsidization and other similar trade challenges,” Dempsey said.

CPTI

Roger B. Schagrin, executive director and general counsel of the CPTI, also voiced his support.

“Our 40,000 employees across the country urge the House leadership to include the Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0 in any future China trade legislative vehicle that is considered in the final days of this Congress,” he said.

USW

USW International President David McCall provided the union’s endorsement in a statement to SMU on Friday.

“USW members know firsthand the critical importance of passing the bipartisan Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0 to protect their jobs from unfair trade,” McCall said. “The USW joins the rest of the steel industry in calling on Rep. Johnson to back this crucial legislation.”

Ethan Bernard

Ethan Bernard is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. He previously worked for American Metal Market as a copy editor in the New York office for two years starting in 2008. Later, he copy edited AMM’s monthly magazine on a freelance basis from 2015 until 2017. With experience in financial copywriting and textbook publishing, he holds a BA in Comparative Literature from UC Berkeley, and an MFA. in Creative Writing from New York University. He can be reached at ethan@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7871.

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