Washington, D.C. – U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman today announced that several economies have joined together to issue a statement that includes steps to address steel excess capacity. The statement comes one day after Secretary Pritzker and Ambassador Froman expressed their disappointment that during the High-Level Meeting on global excess capacity in the steel sector, certain countries, including China, prevented a broad consensus in support of commitments to meet this challenge.
“We are pleased to announce that today a number of the economies participating in this week's High-Level Meeting agreed on a joint statement that presents our shared views on the challenges of excess capacity facing the steel industry and workers and proposes a series of steps to address these challenges. Canada, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, and Turkey have all joined with the United States in issuing today’s statement in support of urgent action. It is our shared goal that other economies, including China, will come to recognize the value of these actions and will join our collective effort to address the causes of the current excess capacity problem. The United States will continue to engage bilaterally and multilaterally with trading partners, including China, to take meaningful action to meet that goal.”
