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The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. ENGLISH) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. ENGLISH. Mr. Speaker, I am brought to the floor by two recent bits of news that were called to my attention, one that fills me with foreboding and another that fills me with hope.
Yesterday, I received sad news from my district. Another local steel company, MacInnes Steel, had filed for bankruptcy, a company that has been a long partner and a long contributor in our community; a company that I visited only a few weeks ago as I traveled my district to announce my chairmanship of the Congressional Steel Caucus;
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Their CEO called it, and I quote, ``a last resort as it struggled with the double blow of a domestic slump in the industry and surging energy costs.''
I must say this is not the first time recently this has happened in my district. Earlier this year, we received the news that an employee-owned company, Erie Forge and Steel, another long-standing institution in our community, had filed for bankruptcy. They cited a variety of reasons for this, including foreign dumping and a slow economy.
The fact is, this is part of a pattern we are seeing around the country. America's steel industry is struggling. We are experiencing a steel crisis. A major core industry of our manufacturing capacity is being threatened, and in the process we face the risk that a major strategic part of our manufacturing sector could be hollowed out in the near future.
Our companies are facing predatory trade practices from our foreign competitors, and so it was encouraging to me to read on Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Commerce had made a preliminary determination confirming that a number of our foreign trade competitors were dumping hot-rolled steel in the U.S. market. I have to say this is a very important decision and a very encouraging one. This preliminary ruling found that 11 countries had been violating our trade laws, including Argentina, China, India and Taiwan, and were benefiting from countervailable subsidies as high as 40 percent.
This finding points to major infringements not only of international trade norms but also our anti-dumping laws.
This preliminary decision is good news for our struggling domestic steel industry. It means that beginning this week, we collected a bond from the importers in the amount of the preliminary dumping margin, providing immediate relief to our employers. If, in the final determination, the decision stands that these countries are indeed dumping on U.S. markets, anti-dumping orders will be issued.
The problem of dumping, Mr. Speaker, is not unique to western Pennsylvania employers but, rather, is part of a bigger picture of what is happening nationwide with the steel industry facing a cascade of layoffs. The companies that were injured by unfair trade practices in this decision are not only from Pennsylvania; but they are also from Kentucky, Illinois, North Carolina, Indiana, and Ohio.
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This decision by the Commerce Department is an important and initial recognition of how severe the problem of dumping is as it faces our domestic industry.
I would like to commend the Bush administration for their quick action in this area. It is good to know that President Bush is willing to enforce the existing trade laws. But this is only a beginning. I urge the administration to continue to take action to protect American workers and their jobs when they face clearly unfair competition.
The economic slowdown in the United States and East Asia intensifies the need for enforcement of our trade laws. Yes, there was a drop in steel imports last month, but as we have analyzed that change, clearly this only reflects a buildup of excess inventory. The steel industry continues to be flat on its back facing a depression even as we debate whether other areas of the economy are heading toward a recession.
We must be very vigilant against dumping and unfair trade practices by our competitors. I encourage President Bush to look at all of his options, including seeking an action under section 201 and supporting our efforts to dramatically strengthen domestic trade laws that allow the administration to police our markets.
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