OPINION:
With the United States expected to sign a phase one trade deal with China this week President Trump has shown that he will continue to fight for American workers to create a strong economy that is empowering Made in America manufacturing. The passage in December of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) by the House of Representatives was a huge win for American workers and their families.
The Trump administration is working to create jobs, raise wages, help families and hit back at countries that don’t play by the rules of international trade. In recent times, unfairly priced and subsidized imports of fabricated structural steel from China, Canada and Mexico have decimated the fabricated structural steel industry, leading to job losses across America’s heartland. The fabricated structural steel industry creates employment for 115,000 Americans throughout the country, while supporting hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs.
These high-wage jobs, and the benefits they provide, support tens of thousands of hard-working Americans and their families. In the key states of Maine, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, the fabricated structural steel industry directly employs over 18,000 Americans, and indirectly employs many thousands more. In Texas alone, more than 14,000 workers are directly employed by the fabricated structural steel industry.
Foreign countries should not be allowed to cheat the system at the expense of American workers and their loved ones. While past administrations failed to act on trade, the Trump administration is standing up for American workers after decades of having the deck stacked against them. Under Mr. Trump’s leadership, the tide has begun to turn. Unemployment has never been lower, wages are skyrocketing, and the working people of this country are winning once more. But despite our many victories, there is still much work to be done.
Foreign steel fabricators, aided by unfair subsidies, have been ramping up their production and flooding the U.S. market with tremendous amounts of cheap fabricated structural steel. The result is artificially deflated American fabricated structural steel prices, making it difficult for American fabricators to stay in business and employ workers.
China, Canada and Mexico should not be cheating the system while U.S. workers are feeling the pain. Our steel fabricators are the best in the world, and they can compete with anyone on a level playing field. Trade cases that are pending before the International Trade Commission and Department of Commerce are a perfect opportunity for the Administration to achieve this objective and show that the United States will strongly enforce its domestic trade laws in the interests of U.S. workers and industries.
President Donald J. Trump is working overtime to ensure that more manufacturing jobs remain here in the United States. Under the leadership of Mr. Trump, the forgotten men and women of America will not be forgotten anymore.
Millions of American manufacturing workers know that Mr. Trump has got their back. When I travel across the country, I hear the same story from American workers, President Trump is fighting for them and standing up to countries that cheat the system, ensuring they get a fair shake in the global economy. While the do-nothing Democrats are obsessed with witch hunts, Mr. Trump is working hard to grow our economy, keep America safe, and ensure American workers can compete on a level playing field, as we work together to Keep America Great.
• David N. Bossie is president of Citizens United and he served as deputy campaign manager for Donald J. Trump for President. He is the co-author of “Let Trump Be Trump” and “Trump’s Enemies.”
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