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90_HR0694
LRB9013597MWpc
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The current financial crisis in Asia, Russia,
3 and other regions has involved a massive depreciation in the
4 currencies of several key steel-producing and steel-consuming
5 countries, along with a collapse in the domestic demand for
6 steel in these countries; and
7 WHEREAS, The crisis has generated and will continue to
8 generate surges in United States imports of steel, both from
9 the countries whose currencies have depreciated in the crisis
10 and from steel-producing countries that are no longer able to
11 export steel to the countries in economic crisis; and
12 WHEREAS, United States' imports of finished steel mill
13 products from Asian steel producing countries, including the
14 People's Republic of China, Japan, South Korea, India,
15 Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, have increased by
16 79% in the first 5 months of 1998 compared to the same period
17 in 1997; and
18 WHEREAS, Year-to-date imports of steel from Russia now
19 exceed the record import levels of 1997 and steel imports
20 from Russia and Ukraine now approach 2,500,000 net tons; and
21 WHEREAS, Foreign government trade restrictions and
22 private restraints of trade distort international trade and
23 investment patterns and result in burdens on United States
24 commerce, including absorption of a disproportionate share of
25 the diverted steel trade; and
26 WHEREAS, The European Union, for example, despite also
27 being a major economy, in 1997 imported only one-tenth as
28 many finished steel products from Asian steel-producing
29 countries as the United States did and has restricted imports
30 of steel from the Commonwealth of Independent States,
31 including Russia; and
-2- LRB9013597MWpc
1 WHEREAS, The United States is simultaneously facing a
2 substantial increase in steel imports from countries within
3 the Commonwealth of Independent States, including Russia,
4 caused in part by the closure of Asian markets; and
5 WHEREAS, The United States, through the International
6 Monetary Fund, generously participates in a bailout of the
7 crisis countries on terms that do not deter and, in fact,
8 encourage them to export their way out of the crisis; and
9 WHEREAS, There is a well-recognized need for improvements
10 in the enforcement of United States trade laws to provide an
11 effective response to these situations; and
12 WHEREAS, Increased imports of steel and steel products
13 from foreign countries will have a negative effect on the
14 steel industry in Illinois and throughout the Midwest;
15 therefore, be it
16 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
17 NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
18 urge the President of the United States to immediately review
19 the entry into the customs territory of the United States of
20 all steel products that are the produced or manufactured in
21 Australia, China, South Africa, Ukraine, Indonesia, India,
22 Japan, Russia, South Korea, or Brazil; and be it further
23 RESOLVED, that if the President of the United States
24 finds that the governments of Australia, China, South Africa,
25 Ukraine, Indonesia, India, Japan, Russia, South Korea, or
26 Brazil are not abiding by the spirit and letter of
27 international trade agreements with respect to imports of
28 steel products into the United States, we urge the President
29 to immediately impose a one-year ban on the imports of all
30 steel products that are produced or manufactured in that
31 non-abiding country; and be it further
-3- LRB9013597MWpc
1 RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of this resolution be
2 delivered to the President of the United States.