Steel industry leaders say the trade imbalance between the United States and other countries needs to be fixed in order to improve the state of domestic manufacturing.
Officials from some of the largest steel companies and unions spoke in Washington on Thursday about the state of the industry during a Congressional Steel Caucus hearing.
U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., chaired the meeting of the caucus, a bipartisan bloc of 100 lawmakers who are from districts with a steel industry presence or are interested in its health.
"Show me a country that no longer produces goods, and I'll show you a country in decline; and that's where America is headed," said Tom Conway, international vice president of the United Steelworkers union.
Conway praised his members for continuing to work hard despite the tough economic conditions and manufacturing jobs continuing to go overseas. About 5.5 million manufacturing jobs have been lost between October 2000 and October 2009, he said.
Conway called for immediate action on $500 billion transportation plan introduced by U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., to increase investments in high-speed rail and highway construction and to make sure domestic companies benefit from tax dollars for green technology development.
AK Steel Corp. CEO James Wainscott said the U.S. government should tell other countries to stop manipulating their currency, drop import barriers and eliminate export subsidies.
Wainscott, a Northwest Indiana native, also said other countries should "keep your unemployment on your shores, not ours. We don't need it! From coast to coast, we have plenty of our own."
In pointed comments about China, Nucor Corp. CEO Dan DiMicco said the U.S. is in a trade fight that it has yet to show up for. He praised the current administration for imposing duties on tires and oil country tubular goods from China. Domestic companies filed trade cases with the U.S. government citing injury from unfairly subsidized and product dumping.
But he said international pressure should continue on China to move to a more market-oriented exchange rate and boost its consumption and domestic demand.
Visclosky said the domestic steel industry has been through economic difficulties in the last year, but some government action has helped improve fortunes. He said the "Buy American" provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and infrastructure investments have helped increase demand for American-made steel and improve employment for steelworkers.
Conway said the union worked with more than 500 local, state and municipal governments to pass resolutions pledging to source domestically made materials when possible when receiving federal stimulus funding for infrastructure projects. Visclosky was one of the legislators who introduced the provision in the stimulus package last year.
Other speakers such as L. Scott Barnes, vice president and chief commercial officer of TMK Ipsco; Gerdau Ameristeel CEO Mario Longhi; Carl Moulton, vice president of Allegheny Technologies' international division; and ThyssenKrupp Steel USA CEO Christoph Lackinger.
