(Senator Mark ) Pryor Defends Arkansas Steel Jobs Before International Trade Commission

[Omaha Steve]

Source: KAIT-TV

WASHINGTON - Senator Mark Pryor today testified before the International Trade Commission on behalf of Arkansas' steel industry about the need to protect domestic steel producers from illegal foreign trade practices. The ITC will decide in the Fall whether to maintain the tariffs placed on steel exports from eleven countries for an additional five years.

Pryor said current tariffs on hot-rolled steel imports should remain in place because they protect American steel producers from countries who have a history of unfair trade practices. He expressed concerns that domestic steel companies cannot afford to invest in their employees and technology if they are forced to compete with foreign manufacturers who export subsidized imports. Countries covered by the current hot-rolled steel tariff include China, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Netherlands, Romania, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and Ukraine.

Pryor testified today on behalf of Region 8 steel producers in Armorel, Hickman and Newport.

The ITC is an independent, quasi-judicial federal agency that determines the impact of imports on U.S. industries and directs actions against unfair trade practices.

Read more: http://www.kait8.com/Global/story.asp?S=6866163&nav=menu67_3

[thunder rising]

1. But that same protection does not apply to American

engineers and scientists; those over educated greedy bastids.