For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 5, 2002
President Announces Temporary Safeguards for Steel Industry
Statement by the President
Policy in Focus: Steel Industry
Free trade is an important engine of economic growth and a
cornerstone of my economic agenda. My Administration has
successfully launched new global trade talks, reignited the movement
for free trade within our own hemisphere, and helped bring China and
Taiwan into the World Trade Organization. To open even more
markets to American products, I have urged the Senate to grant me the
trade promotion authority I need to create jobs and greater
opportunities for U.S. workers and farmers.
An integral part of our commitment to free trade is our commitment
to enforcing trade laws to make sure that America's industries and
workers compete on a level playing field. Free trade should
not mean lax enforcement. Consistent with this commitment,
last June I launched a three-part initiative designed to restore market
forces to world steel markets. This initiative includes
international discussion to encourage the reduction of excess global
steel capacity and negotiations to eliminate market-distorting
subsidies that led to the current glut of capacity. I also
called upon the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to
investi-gate the impact of imports on the U.S. steel industry under
section 201 of the 1974 Trade Act. The ITC subsequently found that
increased steel imports are a substantial cause of serious injury to
our domestic industry.
Today I am announcing my decision to impose temporary safeguards to
help give America's steel industry and its workers the chance to adapt
to the large influx of foreign steel. This relief will help
steel workers, communities that depend on steel, and the steel industry
adjust without harming our economy.
These safeguards are expressly sanctioned by the rules of the World
Trade Organization, which recognizes that sometimes imports can cause
such serious harm to domestic industries that temporary restraints are
warranted. This is one of those times.
I take this action to give our domestic steel industry an
opportunity to adjust to surges in foreign imports, recognizing the
harm from 50 years of foreign government intervention in the global
steel market, which has resulted in bankruptcies, serious dislocation,
and job loss. We also must continue to urge our trading
partners to eliminate global inefficient excess capacity and
market-distorting practices, such as subsidies.
The U.S. steel industry must use the temporary help today's action
provides to restructure and ensure its long-term competitiveness.
Restructuring will impact workers and the communities in which they
live, and we must help hard-working Americans adapt to changing
economic circumstances. I have proposed a major expansion of
the National Emergency Grants program to assist workers affected by
restructuring with effective job training and assistance. I
have also proposed direct assistance with health insurance costs that
will be available to workers and retirees who lose their
employer-provided coverage. And I support coordinated
assistance for communities and a strengthened and expanded trade
adjustment assistance program. America's workers are the
most highly skilled in the world, and with effective training and
adjustment assistance we will help them find better, higher paying jobs
to support their families and boost our economy.
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