<html> <head> <meta HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=windows-1252"> <meta NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Microsoft FrontPage 3.0"> <meta NAME="Template" CONTENT="C:\PROGRAM FILES\MICROSOFT OFFICE\OFFICE\html.dot"> <title>Becker Letter to President Clinton</title> </head> <body LINK="#0000ff" VLINK="#800080"> <hr ALIGN="LEFT" WIDTH="0%" SIZE="0"> <table border="0" width="600"> <tr> <td><img src="images/5face2.gif" alt="5facesl.gif (6828 bytes)" WIDTH="160" HEIGHT="154"></td> <td></td> <td>UNITED STEELWORKERS OF AMERICA Five Gateway Center Pittsburgh, PA 15222 412-562-2300 George Becker, International President</td> </tr> </table> March 11, 1999   The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton President of the United States 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: I write regarding Mr. Podestas letter of March 10 to House Ways and Means Committee Chair Bill Archer in which he indicates that your "senior advisors" intend to recommend that you veto H.R. 975, the Bipartisan Steel Recovery Act. Let me urge you in the strongest way possible to override this advice, embrace H.R. 975 and its Senate counterpart and Stand Up for Steel. I want to comment first on the assertion in Mr. Podestas letter that, "The Presidents commitment to effective, vigorous and timely enforcement of our trade laws is producing results." While it is true that overall import levels in January of this year were below the record levels reached in the third and fourth quarters of 1998, the following must be noted. Januarys imports were still over 10% higher than they were in the pre-crisis period, with imports from a number of key steel producing countries still dramatically above their pre-crisis level. Imports from Japan in January were still over 96% above their pre-crisis level; Koreas imports were still 155% above, and imports from Indonesia in January were still 705% above their pre-crisis level. None of these nations is showing any indication that they intend to stop their assault on our market. While imports of hot-rolled steel declined in January of 1999 from their peak in November of 1998, with Japan, Russia and Brazil backing away, numerous other countries have already moved in to take their place. Imports of hot-rolled steel have surged from their November level as follows: Indonesia (up 1,310%), China (up 552%), Kazakhstan (up 166%), South Africa (up 76%), Australia (up 60%), and the Netherlands (up 42%). And while Japan and Brazil have reduced exports of hot-rolled steel to the United States, they have quickly increased their dumping of other key steel products. Imports from Japan of rail products, tin mill products and cold-rolled sheet and strip increased 520%, 348% and 54%, respectively in January of 1999 from November of 1998. And imports from Brazil of cut-to-length plate, wire rod, and cold-rolled sheet and strip increased 109%, 102% and 47%, respectively over the same periods. Mr. President, these are not the kind of "results" that American steelworkers and their families need. In fact, these "results" demonstrate the absolute need for a comprehensive solution, as only H.R. 975 offers. Incremental steps, taken country by country or product by product, simply invite ever-more inventive circumvention of the trade rules, under which we are being buried. The effects of this dumping continue to be felt. Raw steel capacity utilization reached a dangerously low 78% during January of 1999, down dramatically from an average of 90% during the pre-crisis period. And prices continue to fall the price of hot-rolled steel fell an additional 4% in January, now down 28% from the average for the pre-crisis period. Similarly, the price of cold-rolled steel fell an additional 5% in January, now down 27% from its pre-crisis level. The impact on the industry has been entirely predictable. Virtually every producer suffered severe losses in the fourth quarter of 1998. And the toll this has taken and continues to take on steelworkers and their communities is equally dramatic. Three companies Geneva Steel, Provo, Utah, 2600 employees; Laclede Steel, Alton, Illinois, 1475 employees; and Acme Metals, Riverdale, Illinois, 2471 employees; have all filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Gulf States Steel (Gadsden, Alabama, 1106 employees) and Weirton Steel (Weirton, West Virginia, 4173 employees) are in severe financial difficulty. Others too numerous to mention are facing imminent danger as well. Over 10,000 steelworkers have already been laid off and tens of thousands more are on the edge. Steelworkers in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Alabama and in every other state where there are steel facilities have felt the effect of these imports either through layoffs or reduced hours of work and consequently reduced incomes. Mr. President, how much more must we bleed? "Vigorous and timely enforcement of our trade laws" has brought the American steel industry, its workers and their communities to the precipice. We must act now, before it is too late. Mr. Podesta states that you believe that the ".best way to address the current steel crisis is by insisting that other countries play by the international trade rules " Unfortunately, Mr. President, for all your insistence, other countries have not so far and show no intention of playing by the rules. And further, when they are punished for their violations, the remedies imposed are too late, too narrow and too weak. It is American steelworkers and their families who have played by the rules and after 17 months of speaking out about this crisis, with no comprehensive response, we have sadly concluded that playing by these rules, when no one else does, is a suckers game. Mr. Podesta also suggests that H.R. 975 may not be consistent with the rules of the World Trade Organization. Mr. President, I am not a legal scholar and I will leave it to others to decide if this is true. I do note, as Congressman Visclosky among others, has pointed out, that steel is absolutely vital to our national defense and as such can and must be protected. But more importantly, Mr. President, I know you agree that our first obligation is not to the WTO, particularly when we seem to be the only ones who abide by its rules. Our first obligation is to the thousands and thousands of hard-working American families who have served their country, put bread on the table by the sweat of their brow, raised families, contributed to their communities and are now being told that the interests of international financiers and global bureaucrats rate above their simple desire to make an honest living. Mr. President, American workers, their families and their communities are at stake. Dont let them down stand up for Steel stand up for America. Sincerely, /s/ George Becker George Becker International President     c: Bill Archer <hr> Return to <a href="speeches.html">Speeches and Testimony</a> </body> </html>