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American workers can compete with anyone on a level playing field, but all too often bad actors in other countries seek to dominate our markets and undercut our industries by engaging in dumping, illegal subsidies, currency manipulation, and other unfair trade practices. Our union has been fighting for a level playing field for decades, and recently, we celebrated some wins.
Section 301: China’s Technology Transfer
In May 2024, President Biden directed the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) to increase tariffs under Section 301 on $18 billion of imports from China, including steel and aluminum, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, critical minerals, solar cells, ship-to-shore cranes, and medical products. This action directly impacts the competitiveness of sectors where our members work by helping to level the playing field against unfair imports from China and bolsters investment in domestic manufacturing.
Section 301 Petition on China’s Shipbuilding and Transportation Policies
Our union has never shied away from using U.S. trade laws and tools to help defend and bolster our members’ jobs and industries. For decades, the USW has fought against harmful trade policies and held bad actors accountable. With that spirit in mind, we filed a Section 301 petition against China regarding their predatory commercial shipbuilding and transportation practices. In April 2024, the Administration agreed with us and officially initiated an investigation into China’s bad actions. Building back our domestic shipbuilding industry will ensure our country’s national security and supply chains are strengthened, as well as create and sustain thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs.
New Tools for Antidumping/Countervailing Duty Investigations
On March 25, 2024, the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) issued a final rule aimed at enhancing its antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) regulations. This final rule expands the agency’s enforcement capabilities by clarifying its authority to factor in the impact of labor, environmental, and intellectual property law enforcement into duty assessments. The final rule also empowers them to investigate claims of transnational subsidies, specifically targeting countries like China that heavily invest in other nations to evade our trade laws.
Our union will continue to push our elected officials to offer specific, achievable plans to preserve domestic manufacturing and revamp our broken trade system in order to support American workers over the long-term.