Portman leads bipartisan call for administration to address steel overcapacity through trade enforcement

U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) led a bipartisan call on Monday for President Barack Obama to step up trade enforcement to curb China’s excess steel capacity.

Brown and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) made the call in a bipartisan letter to the president that was signed by U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Richard Burr (R-NC), among others.

“We urge the administration to consider all options for increasing China’s compliance with its international trade obligations, including a potential case brought with our allies at the World Trade Organization and a pause of other trade negotiations with China, such as the Bilateral Investment Treaty talk,” the letter states.

China has made numerous commitments to reduce its steel capacity, but has failed to do so.

“Diplomatic pressure, even if made with our allies, has not been sufficient to change government subsidy policies, state-owned enterprise involvement in the market, and access to free capital that allows unprofitable steel companies to pump excess steel products into the market,” the senators wrote. “Only if we incorporate strong enforcement measures into our strategy to reduce excess global capacity will U.S. steel companies and steelworkers get the relief they need.”