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WEIRTON, W.VA. – Weirton Steel Corp. officials today began contacting members of Congress to alert them that steel imports are on the rise and if the pace continues, 2000 will be close to the all-time record year for such imports. In 1998, the record year, 41.5 million tons of steel imports reached American markets. When annualizing the first four months of 2000, the year would end with 40.2 million tons, the second highest total. Steel import levels for April reached 3.6 million tons, the highest monthly level since the depths of the steel import crisis in November 1998. April’s total is 29 percent higher than the same period in 1999 and 23 percent higher than April 1998. Weirton Steel Chief Executive Officer Richard K. Riederer said the increase is almost entirely due to "import switching." "The U.S. has penalized several countries with tariffs on steel products they ship here because they were found to be selling their products in the U.S. at illegal prices. The tariffs have virtually stopped their shipments. However, to avoid the tariffs and continue exporting to the U.S., they are sending their raw steel to other countries for processing and, in turn, that country is shipping to the U.S.," said Riederer. "While conditions in the U.S. steel market are modestly imporved, America’s steel producers will need to be especially aggressive thie year in monitoring and taking action against unfair trade to ensure what happened in 1998 does not occur again," Riederer commented. Gregg Warren, Weirton Steel director-corporate communications and government relations, said the company has begun contacting members of the House and Senate to inform them of the import concern. He said the communication efforts will continue through next week. "We know many on Capitol Hill and the White House are ‘import fatigued’ after hearing about our complaints for the past several years. But while Washington may be weary of our pleas, we have no choice but to rekindle the flames under this issue," Warren said. Weirton Steel Corp.
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