Miss. Senators Continue Push to Protect U.S. Steel Product from Unfair Imports

Press Release

U.S. Senators Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today persisted in their efforts to ensure that U.S. steel producers in Mississippi and other states are protected from imported steel reinforcing bar or "rebar."

Wicker and Cochran are encouraging Meredith Broadbent, chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), to protect the U.S. rebar industry by supporting antidumping duties on imports unfairly supported with foreign government subsidies. The ITC is in the final phase of antidumping and countervailing duty investigations on reinforcing rebar imported from Mexico and Turkey.

"American steel manufacturers should be safeguarded from imports that unfairly manipulate the market," Wicker said. "I urge the ITC to continue to support global trade policies that level the playing field for Mississippi's steel industry."

"The imposition of antidumping duties is a matter of competitive fairness, particularly when imbalanced trade practices impact the livelihoods of workers in Mississippi and other steel producing states," Cochran said. "We are simply asking the ITC to support an American industry beset by government-subsidized foreign steel products."

The Senators are among 36 Senators who have signed a letter to Broadbent that highlights the hardships experienced by the U.S. steel industry during the recession and the threat posed to its recovery by cut-rate foreign-made rebar dumped on the market.

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