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Neal Opening Statement at Hearing with Department of Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

March 22, 2018

(As prepared for delivery)

Secretary Ross, I want to welcome you on behalf of the Committee Democrats. Today's hearing is an opportunity for us to hear from you directly about the steel and aluminum tariffs that are scheduled to go into effect tomorrow and details about the processes for exclusions and exemptions that are still ongoing.

We know that the steel and aluminum industries in the United States have been struggling for many years. We also know that the situation is the direct result of unfair practices of our trading partners.

China has been the most flagrant bad actor. Many of their steel and aluminum companies are really just extensions of the Chinese government that benefit from massive government subsidies.

In 2000, China's steel capacity was just over 100 million tons, roughly the same as the United States. Today, it is 1.2 billion tons – more than 10 times as high as U.S. capacity – and more than the total capacity of the United States, the European Union, Japan, and Russia combined.

Chinese industrial policies have led to massive amounts of overcapacity in both the steel and aluminum industries. Global markets have been flooded and the price of both commodities has dropped so low that firms playing by the rules cannot compete.

This situation has put our workers and firms in an unsustainable position. They deserve strong action and support from the U.S. government.

In response to these issues, this Administration has announced that it will impose a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and a 10 percent import on aluminum imports. Those tariffs are set to take effect tomorrow.

I understand why our steel and aluminum producers and workers are excited about the tariffs. The tariffs represent relief that they have been waiting for, for years – relief that will allow them to rebuild, restart, and rehire.

I am concerned, however, that the relief promised by the tariffs will be watered down to the point that it will not be effective. And I am concerned that the way this action was rolled out will discourage cooperation from the international partners that we need in the fight against China's overcapacity.

We have a lot of questions about how the Administration will proceed in the coming weeks and months. We posed many of them already to Amb. Lighthizer yesterday. We understand that you and your Department have a different role in these investigations and in the administration of the exemption and exclusion processes.

We are particularly interested in:

When the country exemptions and product exclusion decisions will be made and when they will be made effective;

How, once exemptions and exclusions are applied, the tariffs would still be able to provide the promised relief – and whether the tariff levels will be adjusted upward to account for the exemptions and exclusions;

What the Administration's plan is for monitoring whether the tariffs are "working" and how the Administration would modify the relief to adjust for real world effects;

What the Administration's vision is for how the steel and aluminum tariffs will contribute to a multilateral, coordinated strategy for counteracting the global overcapacity crisis; and

How long the Administration envisions these tariffs would need to be in place to address the national security threat that your Department has found.

Secretary Ross, I hope that you will provide clarity on these issues over the course of our hearing today.

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