As I was driving past the acres of empty parking lots this morning at the steel mill that I’m a contractor to, I was thinking about the steelworkers who used to park in these lots. I was also thinking about the editorial in the Tribune about the rejection of tariffs imposed on imported steel (“Bush’s odd protectionism,” Feb. 2).
It would be good to point out that the steel industry is not looking for a handout; it is just looking for a level playing field. The steel that is pouring into the U.S. is being dumped here and sold at prices that are lower than the foreign companies can produce it for, much less an American company. In the last 15 years, the steel industry has gone through a significant restructuring. The mills have reduced their workforce, invested in new equipment, implemented major cost-control and purchasing programs as well as value-added recycling projects and outsourcing.
It is true that the smaller “mini-mills” can make steel cheaper, but that is what it is, a “cheaper steel.” The mini-mills can’t make deep drawing steel, interstitial-free, high-carbon or bright-finish steel. Only a fully integrated mill, which has a blast furnace, can manufacture them. If American steel companies only make low-cost, low-carbon electric-furnace steel that everyone else in the world can make, the only competitive factor would be price. Besides, if we can’t supply high-quality steel in the U.S., there will be no need for the tool-and-die industry, the high-speed stamping industry, the mold makers, fabricators, plating houses, heat-treators and all the companies who supply the goods and services to these industries. I guess we can just buy these costly durable goods from Japan, South Korea, Brazil and China.
The Tribune should also know that the highest concentration of metalworking businesses in the world is within a 100-mile radius of the Chicago area. Metalworking companies pay good salaries with benefits and we all don’t want to lose any more business or employees to unfair foreign trade. Ispat-Inland, Bethlehem, and U.S. Steel can compete with any steel mill in the world on quality, price, production and delivery. But the government does not send us a check every month to make up for the $80 per ton price reduction since 1997.
It seems as if President Bush looks at the big picture and is a strategic thinker. It seems like he would realize that it might be harder in the future for the military to get replacement steel components from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Besides, there is some value in supporting a struggling entity that adds value to its community even if it can’t make a huge profit. Doesn’t the Tribune own the Cubs?
