We’ve discussed issues involved with “dumping” steel products on global markets and its impact on steelmaking countries that play by fair market rules, like the United States. Once again, issues with steel shipped overseas at unfairly reduced prices have reared their head, causing some of our politicians to take action in protecting our domestic manufacturers.
In recent months, Turkey and Mexico have emerged as two of the countries around the world culpable for creating a volatile and underpriced market in reinforced steel bar, also known as rebar. As this article published by AL.com discusses, both of the U.S. Senators from the state of Alabama are trying to gather bipartisan support for legislation that protects rebar prices in America.
The two Republican senators from Alabama, Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby, were among 31 lawmakers who signed a letter addressed to Penny Pritzker, the U.S. Commerce Secretary. The letter asks the secretary if she would direct the U.S. Commerce Department to investigate the Mexico and Turkey dumping claims and administer any appropriate actions in blocking those imports.
Between the years 2011 and 2013, imports of rebar from these two countries have almost doubled. Foreign governments who dump rebar and other steel products heavily subsidize them, so that they can be sold for much cheaper than they cost to make, while still turning a profit for their manufacturers.
American steel manufacturers create seven million tons of rebar every year, making it one of our country’s strongest sectors of that industry. However, rebar imports from Mexico to the U.S. equal its combined exports to the rest of the world between 2010 and 2012, unfairly targeting our economy over other countries.
Here at Florida Pipe & Steel, we know that it takes a concerted effort in order to protect our domestic industries in this globalized economy. We hope that our government does what it can to support domestic manufacturing of rebar and find ways to keep cheap, over-subsidized products out of our markets.
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