S.R. 3 Enrolled

RESOLUTION URGING FEDERAL ACTION ON STEEL IMPORTS
1999 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Sponsor: Ed P. Mayne
A RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE URGING THE PRESIDENT AND THE FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT TO TAKE ALL NECESSARY AND APPROPRIATE ACTION TO RESPOND
TO THE SURGE OF STEEL IMPORTS RESULTING FROM THE FINANCIAL CRISES IN
ASIA, RUSSIA, AND OTHER REGIONS.
Be it resolved by the Senate of the state of Utah:
WHEREAS, metal manufacturing has played a significant economic role among Utah's
industries;
WHEREAS, the current financial crises in Asia, Russia, and other regions have involved
massive depreciation in the currencies of several key steel-producing and steel-consuming
countries along with a collapse in the domestic demand for steel in those countries;
WHEREAS, the crises have generated, and will continue to generate, surges in United
States imports of steel, both from the countries whose currencies have depreciated in the crisis and
from steel-producing countries that are no longer able to export steel to the countries in economic
crisis;
WHEREAS, United States imports of finished steel mill products from Asian
steel-producing countries, such as the People's Republic of China, Japan, Korea, India, Taiwan,
Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia increased by 79% in the first five months of 1998 compared to
the same period in 1997;
WHEREAS, imports of steel from Russia during 1998 exceeded the record import levels
of 1997;
WHEREAS, foreign government trade restrictions and private restraints of trade distort
international trade and investment patterns and result in burdens on United States commerce,
including absorption of a disproportionate share of diverted steel trade;
WHEREAS, in 1997 the European Union, despite also being a major economy, imported
only one-tenth as much finished steel products from Asian steel-producing countries as the United
States did and has restricted imports of steel from the Commonwealth of Independent States,

including Russia;
WHEREAS, the United States is simultaneously facing a substantial increase in steel imports
from countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States, including Russia, caused in part
by the closure of Asian markets;
WHEREAS, the United States, through the International Monetary Fund, generously
participates in a bailout of the crisis countries on terms that do not deter and in fact encourage them
to export their way out of the crisis;
WHEREAS, there is a well-recognized need for improvements in the enforcement of United
States trade laws to provide an effective response to the situation; and
WHEREAS, talks between the President, the administration, and the steel industry are
currently underway to resolve the steel import crisis:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the state of Utah urge the
President of the United States and the federal government to take all necessary and appropriate action
to (1) increase enhancement of United States trade laws to respond to the surge of steel imports into
the United States, using all remedies available under those laws, including offsetting duties and
quantitative restraints; (2) obtain a more equitable sharing of the burden of accepting imports of
finished steel products from Asia and the countries within the Commonwealth of Independent States;
(3) report to the United States Congress by April 1, 1999, with a comprehensive plan for responding
to the import surge, including ways to eliminate its deleterious effects on employment, prices, and
investment in the United States steel industry; and (4) establish a task force responsible for closely
monitoring United States imports of steel.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the President of the
United States, the Department of Commerce, the United States Trade representative, and the
members of Utah's congressional delegation.

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