Steelworkers demand meeting with Manley, Chretien

The United Steelworkers of America is demanding a meeting with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Finance Minister John Manley over unfairly priced steel imports.

Steelworkers National Director Lawrence McBrearty has written to the two leaders, expressing concern that an import-related proposal was placed on a Cabinet agenda recently without consultation with the union.

"We are extremely concerned about what we understand to have been the Minister's proposal, for a tariff of 20 percent on imports of steel reinforcing bar with no sanction of any kind on any other steel product," McBrearty said.

The following news release was issued today by the Steelworkers:

**************************************************************** TORONTO, May 21 - The United Steelworkers' National Director, Lawrence McBrearty, has written to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, urging Jean Chrétien and John Manley to meet with representatives of the steel industry and the union as soon as possible to permit a full discussion of the impact of unfairly-priced steel imports and to come up with a stronger response than one that was removed last week from the Cabinet agenda.

A proposal by Finance Minister John Manley's department, which targeted only one product (steel reinforcing bar) was held up last week because of a split in the federal Cabinet on the issue.

"Our union is relieved that the item has been pulled, for two reasons," said McBrearty.

"First, we had received a specific undertaking from the Minister of Finance that we would be consulted before any position was taken on recommendations made to him by the special Liberal Caucus Task Force led by Tony Valeri.

"We were disappointed that no such consultations had taken place prior to the issue being placed on the Cabinet agenda. "Second, we are extremely concerned about what we understand to have been the Minister's proposal, for a tariff of 20% on imports of steel reinforcing bar with no sanction of any kind on any other steel product.

Under the circumstances, such a response would fall far short of what is needed, and would expose Canada to needless risk that its weak response will provoke a reconsideration by the United States of our exemption from its steel trade regime.

"The current situation is dire. Prices are well below those needed for survival. Tens of thousands of jobs are at risk from unfairly-priced imports - jobs in steel and in steel supplying and using industries that depend on it.

"Companies that are among the most modern and efficient in the world may well not survive. Communities dependent on the industry face uncertain futures.

"I have no doubt that you are being told that action by Canada to defend our interests in this matter would be risky; that we risk a challenge at the World Trade Organization (WTO) if we take action that might offer some hope of relief to steel in Canada. "The risks of doing next-to-nothing, however, are far greater. Failure to act risks an entire industry. Failure to act risks tens of thousands of jobs.

"Failure to act sends the message to the world that the Canadian economy is ripe for the picking, and that our Government will just stand by and watch it happen.

"I also have no doubt that our efforts to persuade the Government to take action are being characterized, by those advocating doing nothing, as calling on Canada to ignore the WTO and the international trading obligations that go with our membership in that organization. Nothing could be further from the truth. "What we are asking Canada to do is to use measures that are explicitly sanctioned in our trade agreements to do precisely what they are intended to do - enable Canada to protect key industries from injury caused by unfair trade.

"Why else would the WTO have rules permitting the levying of anti-dumping and countervailing duties, except to enable governments to protect Canadian industries threatened by abuse of the trading system?

"Why else would the WTO have rules permitting safeguard measures, except to enable governments to avoid precisely the kind of economic disaster that now threatens the steel industry?

"I sincerely hope that what we have heard about the intentions of the Ministry of Finance are wrong. Urgent action is needed - action that goes far beyond the limited and useless response we have heard discussed.

"I urge you to meet with representatives of the steel industry and the Steelworkers union as soon as possible to permit a full discussion of the issues.

"In the meantime, I urge you to suspend the announcement of any response until the Government has had the opportunity to consider the results of such a discussion. "Canadian steel faces a real crisis. We need a real response."

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