WASHINGTON – Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin today co-sponsored a bipartisan resolution urging President Clinton to take immediate action to curb foreign steel imports and to initiate an investigation into trading practices by foreign steel producers that could result in financial relief for the U.S. steel industry.

The resolution, H. Res. 635, calls upon the President “to take all appropriate action within his power to provide relief from injury caused by imports and to immediately request the International Trade Commission (ITC) begin an investigation under Section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974 of domestic steel imports.”

Section 201 allows the President to provide temporary relief to U.S. producers if the ITC finds that foreign imports are increasing and that they are causing serious injury to the U.S. steel industry.

“The U.S. steel industry and its workers have made great sacrifices to stay competitive while producing the best steel in the world. However, our industry cannot survive if massive amounts of unfairly traded imports continue to flood the United States,” said Rep. Cardin.

The illegal dumping of steel by foreign countries has devastated the U.S. steel industry since 1998, when the Asian financial crisis and the collapse of the Russian economy led to a flood of imports. Since 1998, increased steel imports have forced five U.S. companies into bankruptcy, resulting in the layoff of some 10,000 steelworkers.

Once again, foreign steel imports are climbing and U.S. steel prices are plummeting. In August, steel imports were up 17% from the same period one year ago. More troublesome, the August imports were higher than the same period in 1998, the year when total steel imports were at the their highest level in history.

Several months ago, the U.S. Department of Commerce released a study documenting distortions in the world steel industry and unfair foreign trading practices and its impact on the U.S. steel industry. The report attributed much of the problem to anti-competitive practices by foreign manufacturers and industry subsidies given by foreign governments.