WASHINGTON (WV News) — U.S. Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., each made comments in support of a Weirton-based tin manufacturer during a U.S. International Trade Commission hearing Thursday.
Cleveland-Cliffs, which produces cold-rolled sheet and tinplate at its Weirton facility, and the United Steelworkers union are petitioning the U.S. Department of Commerce and the International Trade Commission for countervailing duties on imports of tin mill products from China.
The manufacturer and the union also hope to secure anti-dumping duties on imports of tin mill products from Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
“The Cleveland-Cliffs operations in Weirton, West Virginia, currently employs around 600 people, but they previously employed nearly 900 hard-working men and women in the tristate area of West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania,” Capito said during her testimony.
“Those operations also play a crucial role in the economic stability and well-being of our Northern Panhandle community,” she said.
However, the fate of this plant is in “jeopardy because (of) unfair trade in the tin mill market,” Capito said.
“If we lose that product, we lose the whole facility, and the long and proud history of steel production at Weirton will come to an end,” she said. “That would not only be devastating to the region but to the family of every steelworker who puts food on the table through their paycheck.”
Manchin also urged the ITC to support all of Cleveland-Cliffs’ petitions against dumped and unfairly subsidized tin mill products.
“Steel has been the backbone of innovation and economic growth in our great nation for generations, and Cleveland-Cliffs is an instrumental part of that,” he said. “As the steel industry continues to rebound and reinvigorate itself, we must protect it against illegally dumped and subsidized imports to ensure we retain and grow the jobs we have here in the U.S.”
In August, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a preliminary determination which found imports of tin mill products from the People’s Republic of China, Canada, and Germany are being “dumped” into the U.S. market.
The Department of Commerce placed preliminary duties of 122.5% on tin mill imports from a Chinese company that was not cooperating in the investigation, 2.02% on imports from Germany, and 5.29% on those from Canada.
Final determinations for all other countries is expected to be released “on or around” next Monday, according to information from Department of Commerce.