Contacts: Wayne Ranick (412) 562-2444, wranick@usw.org
Roy Houseman (202) 778-4384, rhouseman@usw.org
(Pittsburgh) -- United Steelworkers (USW) International President Leo W. Gerard issued the following statement today in conjunction with the release of a letter signed by U.S. Senator Kay Hagan (NC) and 30 other senators. The letter to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker supports the Department’s decision to initiate antidumping and countervailing duty investigations against passenger vehicle and light truck tire imports from China.
“Today’s letter demonstrates strong support nationally for the fair trade case made by American tire workers, as 31 U.S. senators made it clear that China must stop stealing American jobs. Despite making the best tires in the world, China’s unfair trade practices are undermining the growth of the U.S. tire industry and inhibiting other opportunities for the domestic economy.
“China has targeted this sector for years. In response to an earlier petition from the USW, President Obama granted relief under Section 421 of our trade laws from a flood of Chinese tires. Shortly after that relief ended, the Chinese once again targeted and flooded the U.S. market with dumped and subsidized tires. This resulted in the USW filing petitions earlier this year under our antidumping and countervailing duty laws to stop Chinese unfair trade practices and restore market conditions.
“These are family-supportive jobs performed by men and women who work hard and play by the rules. They want their elected leaders to stand up for American interests and for our nation’s trade laws to be enforced. We thank Senator Kay Hagan for leading this effort and appreciate the support of her colleagues from both tire-producing and other states who stand in solidarity with hard-working Americans.
“We appreciate Senator Hagan’s long record of standing up to the Chinese and fighting for our jobs.
“China has methodically targeted industry after industry to fuel their export-led growth model and to keep their people employed. Too often, America is on the receiving side of their unfair trade practices that have contributed to the loss of more than 5 million manufacturing jobs and the shuttering of more than 60,000 facilities.
“We intend to continue the fight for fair trade, decent jobs and the American Dream. The senators who signed this letter made clear that it’s their fight too.”
Click here for more information on Sen. Hagen’s work supporting tire workers.
Click here for the full text of Sen. Hagan’s letter.
The USW represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service and public sectors. For more information: http://www.usw.org/.