Tours ArcelorMittal steel manufacturing facility with U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, meets steelworkers
Washington, D.C. – Today, Ambassador Ron Kirk traveled to Cleveland, Ohio. During the trip, he and Senator Sherrod Brown toured the ArcelorMittal hot dip galvanizing line in Cleveland. Ambassador Kirk and Senator Brown talked with steelworkers and company executives. They discussed how strong trade enforcement supports and preserves manufacturing jobs in Ohio.
“I came to Cleveland at Sen. Brown's invitation to meet workers at ArcelorMittal and to discuss how U.S. trade enforcement helps to support and preserve jobs here in the Buckeye State," Ambassador Kirk said. "I was also pleased to answer questions about how negotiating the right kind of trade agreements and insisting that our trading partners play by the rules can help Ohio workers, small businesses, farmers, manufacturers, and service providers compete on a level playing field for customers at home and abroad.”
In 2008, the most recent year for which data is available, an estimated 370,000 jobs in Ohio were supported by trade.
BACKGROUND
Ohio is the eighth-largest state exporter of goods and the 13th largest agricultural exporting state. In 2010, Ohio businesses exported more than $41 billion goods. A total of 13,092 companies exported from Ohio locations in 2008. Of these, 89 percent were small and medium-sized businesses, with fewer than 500 employees.
