Aiis says cooperation, not litigation, key to trade

International cooperation in eliminating excess global steel capacity needs to be a top priority of the US

government, Kallanish hears from traditionally pro-trade group the American Institute for International Steel

(AIIS).

In response to a call for comments by the United States Trade Representative ahead of a hearing 12 April, AIIS

says overcapacity “… should be raised as an agenda item at the highest international levels, particularly at the

Group of 20 meeting this year in Beijing.”

“Excess steel capacity created and sustained over many years hurts a host of steel-related industries in the

United States,” AIIS says in their comments summary. “Among other things, it limits jobs and hours worked on

our docks, restrains exports, destabilises world markets, and generates mountains of needless, expensive trade

litigation that ultimately resolves very little.”

Concrete and verifiable political commitments to pare down capacity should be sought from US trading partners,

AIIS says, with an eye toward “… new binding disciplines on state-owned enterprises and related trade-distorting

subsidies.”

A soft touch may be required to build such a coalition to prevent “… the perfect [… becoming] the enemy of the

good.”

“At the same time that we engage in discussions in the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Development) and elsewhere, we should engage in the necessary diplomatic spadework in capitals so that we

can fully engage as many allies as possible in the overall effort to help push this process forward,” the group

says.

EUROMETAL

11.04.2016