lling their products for less than production cost, have been a useful cover from global competition for the steel industry: one out of three anti-dumping actions in the past 20 years was directed at imported steel (Morrissey, 1999). The U.S. anti-dumping law is stacked in favor of domestic producers, virtually guaranteeing that a dumping margin will be found. The Commerce Department upholds more than 95 percent of all dumping charges. In addition, U.S. law punishes foreign producers for engaging in practices that are legal, and common, in the domestic U.S. economy, where struggling companies often sell at a loss to clear inventory and cover fixed costs (Griswold, 1998).In March of 1999, the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly, (289-141), to slap quotas on dumped steel imports. The quota bill would cost the private sector almost $900 million over the next three years, according to a Congressional Budget Office report (Morrissey, 1999). The quota bill would drive up domestic steel prices; this would be a boon to the relatively small steel-producing sector but a burden to far larger steel-using industries. Higher steel prices will drive up costs and depress sales and employment in steel-using sectors such as automobiles, construction, home appliances and food packaging. For Example, the average five-passenger sedan contains $700 worth of steel, a fact that has prompted General Motors to file a brief this fall with the U.S. International Trade Commission urging caution about steel dumping duties. Caterpillar Inc., a major exporter of construction equipment, buys 600,000 tons of steel a year. General Electric uses 750,000 tons a year in home appliances and a range of other products. Overall, the major steel-consuming sectors of the U.S. economy transportation equipment, fabricated metal products, and industrial machinery and equipment employ 3.4 million production workers, compared to 175,000 employed by the basic steel ...
