President Bush's statement on 201.  



	Larry Decker
	06/05/2001 04:37 PM
		 
		 To: Lisa Yoho/NA/Enron@Enron, Linda Robertson/NA/Enron@ENRON, Chris 
Long/Corp/Enron@ENRON
		 cc: 
		 Subject: POTUS Statement re: 201


President's Statement Regarding a Multilateral Initiative On Steel
 
WASHINGTON, June 5 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following was released today by the 
White House: 

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT 

This Administration is committed to free trade as an engine of growth. As 
part of our free trade agenda, we are committed to ensuring that American 
industry and American workers can compete on a level playing field. That is 
why, today, I am announcing my intent to launch an initiative to respond to 
the challenges facing the U.S. steel industry. This initiative will be 
designed to restore market forces to world steel markets and eliminate the 
practices that harm our steel industry and its workers. 

The U.S. steel industry has been affected by a 50-year legacy of foreign 
government intervention in the market and direct financial support of their 
steel industries. The result has been significant excess capacity, 
inefficient production, and a glut of steel on world markets. 

My decision to pursue this initiative comes after extensive consultations by 
Members of the Cabinet with our industry, our steelworkers, and interested 
Members of Congress. We have discussed the challenges facing U.S. steel 
manufacturers, and we understand that we have a critical stake in a healthy 
U.S. steel industry. 

Thus, I intend to take the following steps. First, I am directing the United 
States Trade Representative, in cooperation with the Secretary of Commerce 
and Secretary of the Treasury, to initiate negotiations with our trading 
partners seeking the near-term elimination of inefficient excess capacity in 
the steel industry worldwide, in a manner consistent with applicable U.S.  
laws. 

Second, I am directing the U.S. Trade Representative, together with the 
Secretaries of Commerce and the Treasury, to initiate negotiations on the 
rules that will govern steel trade in the future and eliminate the underlying 
market-distorting subsidies that led to the current conditions in the first 
place. Absent strict disciplines barring government support, direct or 
indirect, for inefficient steel-making capacity, the problems confronting the 
U.S. steel industry and the steel industry worldwide will only recur. 

We see these negotiations and the goal of restoring market forces as being in 
our interest and in the interest of our trading partners and their steel 
industries. That is why we would like to work cooperatively with our trading 
partners in pursuing this initiative. 

Third, I am directing the U.S. Trade Representative to request the initiation 
of an investigation of injury to the United States industry by the 
International Trade Commission under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974. 
This action is consistent with our WTO obligations. 

This three-part strategy, coupled with further restructuring of the U.S. 
industry, should help the industry meet the challenges it faces. I look 
forward to working together with the industry, the steelworkers, Congress, 
and our international trading partners in support of this important 
initiative. 

Contact: White House Press Office, 202-456-2580