Contact: Jess Kamm Broomell, 412-562-2444, jkamm@usw.org
(PITTSBURGH) – The United Steelworkers (USW) union today welcomed the Commerce Department’s decision to institute new tariffs on dumped tin and chromium coated sheet steel products from China and two other countries.
“Foreign dumping into the U.S. market has already cost a significant number of good, community-supporting jobs,” said USW International President Tom Conway. “The preliminary antidumping duties Commerce announced today are a step in the right direction toward stabilizing our market, restoring fair prices and protecting U.S. workers.”
The USW and Cleveland-Cliffs filed a countervailing duty (CVD) petition against China and antidumping (AD) petitions against China and seven other countries in January.
Today’s announcement includes preliminary antidumping duties of 122.52 percent for Chinese goods, as well as smaller margins for Canada and Germany. A final ruling is expected in January 2024, which will include a detailed verification process for all countries listed in the petition.
“The sad reality is that when some of our trading partners saw significant cost increases in their home markets because of global events, they chose to dump here rather than reduce production,” Conway said.
“If we don’t curtail this dumping now, it will eventually choke out our domestic industry, leaving us with no alternative but to rely on foreign goods. We saw how dangerous that dependence was during the pandemic, and we must be proactive now.”
Thousands of USW members make tin mill products in a number of locations, including in California, Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia.
The USW represents 850,000 workers in North America employed in many industries that include metals, mining, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining, the service, public and health care sectors and higher education. For more information: www.usw.org.