Today, Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell released the following statement on the Department of Commerce's announcement to apply antidumping duties on Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) from South Korea. Last month, Congresswoman Sewell joined more than 155 Members of Congress in sending a letter to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker urging her to reverse a February 2014 decision that would have allowed South Korean producers to avoid antidumping duties. On June 16, Congresswoman Sewell stood with more than 2,200 employees at U.S. Steel Corporation in Fairfield, Alabama to protest against the illegal dumping of foreign imports.

“Today, the Department of Commerce sent a clear message to foreign countries that unfair trade practices that undermine American steelworkers and OCTG producers will not be tolerated in the U.S. market. For too long, American steel jobs have been undercut by lax trade policies that allow foreign countries to illegally dump steel into the U.S. market,” explained Rep. Sewell. “The entire American economy loses when our Steel Companies are forced to shut their doors because they’ve been cheated by foreign importers. This is why I am pleased that the Department of Commerce is standing up to this gamesmanship by allowing the case to advance to the International Trade Commission (ITC) hearing on July 15. I hope the ITC will also conclude that the American OCTG industry is being wrongfully threatened due to the illegal dumping of foreign imports and will ultimately put an end to this illegal practice, once and for all.” 

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