Imports, regulation stifling steel: execs

Mar 21, 2013 | 01:01 PM | Catherine Ngai

Tags  steel, caucus, imports, natural gas, US Steel, Cliffs, ArcelorMittal, Catherine Ngai

WASHINGTON — The U.S. steel sector looks stronger ahead, particularly as affordable access to natural gas and a recovering automotive and energy sector allow manufacturers to become more competitive globally, but that growth could be in jeopardy if Congress doesn’t act to discourage low-priced imports and over regulation, industry executives said.

"We are threatened every day by the unfair trade practices of our foreign competitors. We need the U.S. government to ferret out such practices that continue to distort steel markets and take strong action to challenge them through aggressive enforcement of U.S. trade remedies," ArcelorMittal USA LLC president and chief executive officer Michael G. Rippey testified March 21 before the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade.....