McCaskill Wins Fight for Missouri Manufacturers Against Foreign Trade Practices

After urging from U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill on behalf of Missouri manufacturers Bull Moose Tube Company and EXLTUBE, the International Trade Commission voted 4-2 to level the playing field for Missouri and U.S. manufacturers by finalizing duties against foreign steel pipe and tubing producers found to be illegally dumping in the international market.

Click HERE for photos from Claire’s recent meeting with Missouri Steel Pipe and Tube Manufacturers.

Keeping up her fight to protect American manufacturers’ ability to compete fairly, McCaskill last month submitted testimony on behalf of Bull Moose, which has 85 employees in the St. Louis area and 80 in Gerald, Mo., and EXLTUBE, which employs 103 in their North Kansas City pipe and tube mill. These companies provide quality pipe and tube products which are used in building applications that are essential to the construction industry.

“Companies in Missouri and across America that manufacture critical infrastructure for use at home and abroad should have a level playing field to complete in the global market,” said McCaskill, a member of the Senate’s Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. “The Commission’s decision helps prevent further harm to companies that have already been penalized by the dumping of pipe and tube products from foreign countries—and is a welcome step in giving folks at companies like Bull Moose and EXLTUBE the certainty they need for their employees and their bottom line.”

“Bull Moose and our employees in Missouri and throughout the country rely on the enforcement of the trade laws and that is why we are seeking relief from unfairly traded imports of steel tubing products from Korea, Mexico and Turkey,” said Michael Blatz, President of Bull Moose Tube, when McCaskill submitted testimony. “We certainly appreciate the support that Senator McCaskill has provided to the industry and workers on this important matter.”

“Our company and its employees in N. Kansas City are ready to compete in the global trade environment, but we need to ensure that trade is conducted fairly in the ongoing investigation on imports of structural tubing from the subject countries,” said Bill Snyder, President of EXLTUBE, when McCaskill submitted testimony. “Having the support of Senator McCaskill and others in Congress is instrumental in ensuring that trade laws are enforced and that relief is provided to the industry and its workers.”

The International Trade Commission had preliminarily acknowledged that dumping was occurring. The allegations brought before the Commission by U.S. manufacturers claimed that Korean companies are selling to the U.S. at below the cost to produce. The Department of Commerce has found that Korean, Mexican, and Turkish companies are selling to the U.S. at dumped prices and that Turkish producers receive government subsidies. Now that the International Trade Commission has made an affirmative determination that these imports are causing material injury to the U.S. producers, the Department of Commerce can issue final orders implementing duties on the illegally subsidized foreign imports.

McCaskill has consistently advocated for a trade system that empowers U.S. manufacturers to compete abroad and holds foreign competitors accountable for gaming the system. She supported the Leveling the Playing Field Act, legislation signed into law in June 2015, which gives the Commerce Department clear discretion to use adverse facts available in its trade investigations as a trade remedy measure. In 2010 and 2012, McCaskill testified before the Commission in support of Missouri companies, endorsing trade policies that protect jobs in Missouri auto part manufacturing facilities, and in 2013 she introduced a proposal to target foreign companies that smuggle products into the U.S. to avoid paying import fees. Last year she introduced the bipartisan, Duty Suspension Process Act, now law, which would simplify trade processes for America’s manufacturers.

McCaskill Sees Results in Effort to Combat Chinese Trade Practices

Weeks after visiting a Sedalia steel wheels plant where she expressed support for a trade case against China, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today showcased the positive impact on American jobs that is resulting from recent work to combat illegal Chinese trade practices.  She also stressed the need to enforce the judgements of trade cases.   

In a letter to chief customs official David Aguilar, McCaskill pointed out recent evidence that Chinese companies are shipping jobs back to the U.S. after being forced to compete fairly with other manufacturers by the International Trade Commission.    

“This shows that when the playing field is level, the U.S. will outwork and outcompete China,” McCaskill said. “The problem is that a foreign government like China’s continues to do everything it can to cheat the system, and so I’m going to keep up the pressure on both China, and federal officials here in the U.S. to make sure everyone is playing by the same rules.”

Currently, if the Department of Commerce and International Trade Commission find that a Chinese company has engaged in unfair trade practices, those companies can be penalized through tariffs on their goods. Some Chinese companies have responded by moving their production to the United States and creating American jobs. 

Unfortunately, a number of malicious companies have sprung up offering to help foreign companies evade the tariff penalties through mislabeling, smuggling or other means.  Sen. McCaskill has been working with her colleagues to crack down on this problem.  In her letter, she warns that, if Chinese companies believe they can get away with smuggling, it will undermine job growth in the U.S.

McCaskill called on Aguilar to continue the American crackdown on such practices by foreign governments.

“Customs has taken some steps in the right direction, but needs to do more to stop this kind of evasion,” McCaskill wrote in her letter.  

McCaskill has been an outspoken leader in the fight against unfair trade practices in China, introducing the FAIR Enforcement Against Duty Evasion Act, which would help strength enforcement matters.

McCaskill has also stood up for Missouri manufacturers, testifying in Congress in support of a trade action filed against them by a Maxion Wheels of Sedalia, Missouri, and visiting the plant in April as part of her Fighting for Fairness tour.

A copy of McCaskill’s letter is available HERE.