China Cheats on Steel at the Cost of U.S. Jobs

The U.S. steel industry is experiencing wrenching challenges. Across the country, and here in Pennsylvania, facilities are being idled, well-paying jobs decimated and communities shattered. At the heart of this problem is the continuing flood of illegally subsidized foreign steel imports, mostly from China.

In 2015, there were more than 12,000 steel-industry layoffs announced in the United States. Record levels of steel exports from China are on track to exceed 100 million metric tons this year — which is more steel than produced by the entire domestic industry.

China’s government overtly manipulates its currency and subsidizes its steel industry in ways that violate international trade laws — doing everything to push the steel to market — even if that means dumping the products in the United States at less than fair market value … more