Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA), Mike Braun (R-IN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Rob Portman (R-OH) have requested U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer prioritize reducing steel overcapacity by extending the Global Forum mandate.
The forum was created in 2016 by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development to promote diplomatic engagement regarding steel overcapacity.
The forum collects and analyzes data on the capacity of individual steel mills.
“While we recognize that diplomacy is not a substitute for vigorous trade enforcement, we do believe that the Global Forum continues to have an important role to play,” the letter said. “China’s modest reductions in capacity in recent years are being undermined by new investments in steel capacity in China and by Chinese state-owned enterprises building new steel mills outside of China. China produced a record 928.3 million metric tons of crude steel in 2018, according to the World Steel Association. Chinese steel production has increased by an additional nine percent so far this year, and now accounts for 53 percent of global steel production.”
Global steel production by state-owned enterprises increased 33 percent since 2011, while production by private enterprises has grown 22 percent.