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Steelworkers SlammedDuties Removed on Unfairly Traded Sheet Steel Used in Autos, AppliancesSteelworkers may pay with theirjobs for an International TradeCommission (ITC) ruling thatrevokes tariffs on corrosion-resistantsheet steel used by auto and appliancemakers.The ITC voted 4 to 2 in December toremove the duties on steel from fourcountries — Australia, Canada, Franceand Japan. Steel from Germany andKorea will remain subject to the tariffs,the ITC ruled.The decision was a blow to bothworkers and domestic steel producers,who at year's end were troubled by softerprices, excess inventory and continuingrecord levels of imports.The tariffs were put in place 13 yearsago after waves of unfairly tradedimports contributed to plant closings,bankruptcies and lost jobs and benefitsfor thousands of American steelworkers."We made a lot of sacrifices to keepthis industry alive in the face of unfairtrade — workers lost their jobs, theirretirement security, and their healthcare,'' said Pete Janicki, president ofUSW Local 2227, which represents productionworkers at U.S. Steel's IrvinImports of coated freesheet paperfrom Indonesia, China and SouthKorea are harming American jobsand the domestic paper industry, accordingto a preliminary finding by the U.S.International Trade Commission (ITC).The growing influx of low-pricedfreesheet products from Asia have hurtdomestic operations like NewPageCorp.'s paper mill in Luke, Md., whichis shutting down its No. 7 paper machineat the end of March. An estimated 130USW-represented jobs will be lost.Tom Caldwell, a sheeter operator andpresident of USW Local 676 at LukePaper, told the ITC at a recent hearingthat the 130 jobs are being eliminatedbecause of unfairly traded imports.The USW represents about 1,100employees at Luke, the largest employerin Allegany County, Md. "It's going tobe very difficult for our members whoWorks near Pittsburgh. "We need tohonor that sacrifice by demanding ourtrade laws be enforced."USW President Leo W. Gerard, andVice President Tom Conway, who bothtestified in favor of the tariffs, said thevote turns back the clock on America'ssteelworkers and once more puts us atthe mercy of foreign producers whohave routinely taken advantage of theopen market in the United States."We appreciate the important orderskept in place, but wiping out the rest ofthese orders will force us to competewith dumped and subsidized imports andputs the industry's ability to continueinvesting in the future very much atrisk," Gerard said.Steel auto showdownThe case was essentially a showdownbetween U.S. steelmakers and the autoindustry, which argued that the steelindustry no longer needed protection.DaimlerChrysler AG, Ford Motor Co.,General Motors Corp., Honda MotorCo., Nissan Motor Co. and ToyotaMotor Corp. had joined together on atrade case for the first time, arguing thatare laid off to find new jobs in the area,''Caldwell said.After the company idles the No. 7machine, which was installed in 1904and modernized several times, two papermachines capable of producing 550,000tons of coated paper annually willremain in operation.Luke Paper's previous owner,Westvaco Corp., merged with MeadCorp. in 2002. Several hundred job cutsfollowed the merger. A year ago lastJanuary, MeadWestvaco sold its papermakingbusiness to a private investmentfirm in New York. The new companybegan operating as NewPage last May.USW President Leo W. Gerard calledthe ITC finding an "important first step"in safeguarding American jobs fromunfair foreign competition.Gerard said he expects the next investigativephase by the U.S. Commercethey had been forced to pay additionalcosts since 2004 because of higher steelprices.U.S. steelmakers argued the higherprices more accurately reflected the costof raw materials and production, plusthey needed to maintain the tariffs toprevent the kind of dumping of lowpricedand subsidized imports that hadnearly destroyed them in the 1990s.From 1997 to 2004, an estimated 45steel manufacturers, about 40 percent ofthose operating in the United States,filed for bankruptcy court protection,partly because of the influx of lowpricedforeign steel.Along the way, more than 85,000jobs were lost in steel regions includingPennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana,Illinois and West Virginia.Separately, the domestic industry andthe USW are pressing the Bush administrationand Congress to stop subsidizedsteel imports from China.Government subsidies have fueled adoubling of Chinese steel productionover the last three years to more than400 million tons in 2006.Trade Commission Finds Imports Harm U.S. Paper IndustryChina, Indonesia, South Korea Causing InjuryDepartment will establish that foreignproducers are dumping and foreign governmentsare subsidizing expandedpaper-making capacity."The Commerce Department took animportant first step in initiating a countervailingduty case to examine Chinesesubsidies," Gerard said. "We believe ourgovernment must enforce the anti-subsidylaws with all countries. ExemptingChina from the application of U.S. countervailingduties would make a mockeryof our trade laws."Coated freesheet paper is used inmany high-end commercial printingapplications. End uses include annualreports, coffee table books, magazinesand brochures.The USW represents more than275,000 workers in the paper andforestry products’ industries.38 winter 2007 • USW@Work