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 Backs Legislation To End Tax Breaks for Companies Shipping Jobs Overseas

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill is backing a measure to boost job creation by rewarding companies that “insource” jobs to the U.S., while ending tax breaks for those companies shipping jobs overseas.

The Bring Jobs Home Act introduced by Senator Debbie Stabenow, creates a special 20 percent tax credit for the moving expenses of companies who shift operations back to the U.S. from abroad.

The bill also prevents companies from deducting from their taxes the costs associated with shipping jobs overseas. Under current law, companies can deduct 100 percent of the cost of shipping equipment overseas, terminating leases, and other expenses associated with offshoring a business—meaning that taxpayers are on the hook for millions of dollars annually.

“Right now, some companies are undercutting hardworking Americans by sending valuable jobs out of the country,” McCaskill said. “We shouldn’t be rewarding them for doing it. Instead, let’s use some common sense, and reduce their incentive to outsource by ending tax breaks for companies that send jobs overseas, and rewarding companies that bring jobs back to the United States.”

A similar measure had bipartisan majority support in the Senate last year, but ultimately failed to advance after a Republican filibuster.

Japan Eases Beef Import Rules

U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill released the following statement after the Japanese government announced this week that it would relax its current restrictions on U.S. beef imports:

“This is a big win for Missouri’s ranchers, who for too long have had to comply with restrictions that were simply unnecessary. I’m glad that the pressure applied has made Japan rethink a position that never made much sense.”

This week’s action follows years of pressure from McCaskill urging a change in Japan’s beef import policy prior to the Obama Administration negotiating any future bilateral trade agreements with Japan.  

Japan was the largest foreign consumer of U.S. beef before 2003, when Japan sharply restricted imports of U.S. beef after a single case of ‘mad cow’ disease in a Washington dairy cow. Under the new agreement, Japan will accept imports of U.S. beef from cattle less than 30 months of age, compared to the previous limit of 20 months.  The changes go into effect February 1, and are expected to result in hundreds of millions of dollars in exports of U.S. beef to Japan in the coming years, creating jobs in Missouri and across the United States.