When our company began planning in 2006 to build a new steel-making facility in the Valley, we didn't foresee the economic collapse the construction industry would face by the time we commissioned the plant in 2009.
Now there's a new danger coming from beyond our borders that threatens the steel industry as a whole and the 220 steelmakers we employ here.
I run a manufacturing plant for Commercial Metals Corporation that makes rebar — the steel reinforcement bars used in construction. Our plant is under threat from rebar that is being "dumped" unfairly by two American allies — Mexico and Turkey.
We need the U.S. Commerce Department to take forceful action to end the practice and impose stiff penalties. Now is the time for our representatives in Washington to go to bat for us.
When CMC opened our plant five years ago, we were pioneers in a new industrial corridor in Mesa. Despite the recession, we saw a promising future in bringing the steel backbone of the American economy to this area with a state-of-the-art facility.
Although the economy has improved, it is getting tougher to stand strong in our commitment. Mexican and Turkish steelmakers are taking advantage of trade barriers and special subsidies that allow them to sell rebar here at ridiculously low prices — cheaper than what they sell it for at home, despite the extra cost of importing to the United States.
This dumping has damaged the rebar industry in America. I know every employee in my plant, and I am worried about scaling back hours or shedding staff, as other rebar plants across the country have had to do. We cannot operate profitably while slashing prices to match cheap imports.
That real impact is even worse because every steel job supports as many as seven other jobs in related services such as maintenance and transportation.
The message is clear: When we hurt, others do, too.
Together, Turkey and Mexico have tripled their share of the U.S. rebar market in the last three years and now control 20 percent of it. Unless Commerce acts, this will only get worse.
The Turkish rebar industry is helped by government energy subsidies, export and tax credits and preferential loans that keep its rebar prices in the United States artificially low. The Mexican rebar market, where there is a 23-to-1 trade imbalance, is closed to U.S. imports.
In response to these unfair practices, five major U.S. steel manufacturers have created the Rebar Trade Action Coalition. At the coalition's urging, the Commerce Department and U.S. International Trade Commission investigated the dumping, and in a preliminary ruling, they found in our favor. But they are under strong pressure to reverse their findings on Mexico, and they issued a hand-slap penalty to Turkey.
In its final ruling next month, Commerce needs to stiffen the penalties against Turkey and not back down on Mexico. Our Mesa plant is one of the finest in the world, but giving foreign competitors an unfair advantage is threatening its future.
Source:azcentral.com
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