Kaptur Joins Fellow Steel Caucus Members, Steel Industry Leaders in Opposing Unfair Trade

WASHINGTON—Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, longstanding member of the Congressional Steel Caucus and an outspoken fair trade advocate, issued the following statement today following an announced agreement that the Congressional Steel Caucus and U.S. steel industry would not support a trade agenda that does not protect U.S. producers from unfair competition from imports, including “Fast Track” approval under Trade Promotion Authority (TPA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP):

“Just in the past few weeks, nearly one thousand U.S. steel workers have lost their jobs in Lorain, Ohio. These job losses are tied directly to bad trade deals that drive unfair competition and encourage dumping of inferior products into the U.S. marketplace while leaving many foreign markets closed to U.S. exports. I strongly support the decision by U.S. steel industry leaders and the Congressional Steel Caucus to oppose any effort to push TPP through Congress or enact TPA to restrict any amendment or debate on the deal. Instead let us revisit the past trade deals that have exploded our trade deficit and correct the problems of the past before we even consider passing new global trade deals.”

“It would be unconscionable to move forward with a massive global trade deal without allowing Congress to read the terms negotiated in full. I will not support a trade deal that cannot be amended to protect the rights of American workers and consumers, and that must be voted on in a severely limited period of time. Taking the decision out of the hands of Congress in this way is a recipe for more of the same bad trade deals that will continue to drive jobs overseas and suppress the wages of our workers and their families.”

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