Editor’s note: This video by the American Institute of Steel Construction is a vivid illustration of how we wrongly give up whole US industries that pay large numbers of workers well. When we lose those jobs, we diminish the purchasing power of whole communities because wages are pushed down regionally. And we lose innovation for future workers and industries.
Since the first skyscrapers in New York and Chicago dared to dance with the clouds, American-made fabricated structural steel has supported American workers, American businesses, and the American economy.
[November 11, 2019 | AISC]
But now thanks to an influx of foreign fabricated steel from China, Mexico, and Canada, U.S. fabricators have lost nearly $4 billion in sales and counting — decimating American families. China sent more than four times as much fabricated steel to the U.S. market in 2018 than it did in 2010. Fabricated structural steel imports from China, Mexico, and Canada have almost tripled since 2010, and more than 1 million tons of fabricated structural steel landed on our shores in 2018 alone.
If the United States cannot fend off this onslaught of cheap subsidized foreign fabricated steel, tens of thousands of American jobs will be at risk, billions of dollars in domestic industrial investment will be lost, and we will be handing over the keys to our nation’s critical infrastructure to foreign fabricators.
Our leaders in Washington must stand up for the hardworking Americans who rely on the fabricated steel industry to support their families. Help level the playing field and take swift and decisive action to keep those jobs in the United States before it’s too late.