AISI President and CEO Tom Gibson blogs on the benefits of Natural Gas on the National Journal's Environment & Energy Blog.  


Read his response here. 

Stand Up For U.S. Manufacturers by Not Letting Foreign Governments Circumvent Trade Laws

Our trade laws provide for the imposition of antidumping and countervailing duties on dumped and subsidized imports that injure U.S. industries.  Unfortunately, foreign exporters continue to circumvent antidumping and countervailing duty (AD/CVD) orders through a variety of tactics, such as transshipment, misclassification and other illegal behavior.  These nefarious practices continue to severely harm U.S. producers denying the benefit of the remedy provided by law.  In addition, the U.S. Treasury is not collecting revenue which it is due. 

To rectify this situation, AISI urges House members to cosponsor H.R. 3057, the Enforcing Orders and Reducing Customs Evasion (ENFORCE) Act of 2011.  This legislation, recently introduced by Rep. Billy Long (R-MO) along with a number of other House Members, will ensure that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) uses its authority to collect the correct amount of AD/CVD duties imposed by law and due to the U.S. Treasury.  Similar to the Senate bill (S. 1133), the legislation will also establish a process by which domestic producers can petition CBP to investigate claims of customs fraud and AD/CVD evasion and would require that CBP make preliminary and final determinations to be made public within a specific time-line.  This is a common sense piece of legislation that demonstrates our government can and will combat fraud and abuse relating to unfair trade policies. 

-AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson

Increasing Production of Domestic Energy Resources and Rebuilding Our Infrastructure Will Boost the Economy and Create Jobs

During an important speech about our nation’s economic challenges, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) recognized the importance – and potential connection – between two key policy priorities for the North American steel industry: the increased production of domestic energy resources and investing in our national transportation infrastructure. 

“I’m not opposed to responsible spending to repair and improve infrastructure.  But if we want to do it in a way that truly supports long-term economic growth and job creation, let’s link the next highway bill to an expansion of American-made energy production.   There’s a natural link between the two: as we develop new sources of American energy, we’re going to need modern infrastructure to bring that energy to the market.” – Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), speech given at the Economic Club of Washington on September 15

AISI and its member companies couldn’t agree more with the Speaker’s comments.  Expanding energy production from America’s domestic oil and natural gas resources, and using the expected revenue to rebuild our roads and bridges, will create millions of jobs and boost the economy. 

Currently, the United States ranks 23^rd worldwide in quality of infrastructure.  Our crumbling bridges and deteriorating roads continue to place American workers at a competitive disadvantage as money and time is wasted sitting in traffic.  Almost 25 percent of our nation’s bridges are either structurally deficient or obsolete.  Congress needs to pass a multi-year transportation bill that is funded at levels high enough to address our current needs. 

We also need to expand our energy production.  The North American steel industry – which supports more than one million direct and indirect jobs – is a major consumer of energy.  Harnessing our domestic resources is vital to reducing energy costs for energy-intensive manufacturers.  Steel also plays a critical role in the gathering and transmission of oil and natural gas though the use of steel pipe and tubing.  Producing more oil and natural gas would help maximize key markets for our industry.

Bipartisan legislation, the Infrastructure Jobs and Energy Independence Act (HR 1861), introduced by Reps. Tim Murphy (R-PA), Bill Shuster (R-PA), Jim Costa (D-CA) and Tim Walz (D-MN) earlier this year, is one example that would achieve the connection between energy and transportation.  The bill would expand access to America’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) oil and natural gas resources, and devote expected revenues to invest in America’s transportation infrastructure system. 

The Speaker is right—there is a natural link between these two national priorities.  By developing our energy resources and rebuilding our transportation system, we can achieve long-term economic growth and create thousands of jobs, which will be especially beneficial to the steel industry and manufacturing overall. 

-Thomas J. Gibson

AISI President and CEO 

In a letter to the editor published today in the Peoria Journal Star, AISI President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson urges steps to jumpstart job growth including putting a stop to overreaching regulations.  


Click here to read the full letter.  

Listen to U.S. Steel's Chairman and CEO John Surma talk about ways to lessen our country's dependence on foreign oil while fostering job growth and boosting the U.S. economy. 


Click here to listen. 

William Styren blasts Caltrans' decision to outsource the steel fabrication portion of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge project to China in his op-ed, "U.S. steel should be used by Caltrans" 

Recycling Resolution Will Boost Economy and Environment

On August 2, Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) introduced Senate Resolution S. Res. 251, which expresses support for "improvement in the collection, processing, and consumption of recycled material throughout the United States in order to create well-paying jobs, foster innovation and investment in the U.S. recycling infrastructure, and stimulate the economy."

[Read the full press release here]

Recycling is critical in developing and boosting our nation’s economy by directly or indirectly employing over 450,000 people throughout the U.S. and adding more than $90 billion in economic output.

The Recycling Roundtable, an advocacy group comprised of the Steel Recycling Institute (SRI), the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), the Aluminum Association, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA), the National Solid Waste Management Association (NSWMA), the American Forestry and Paper Association (AF&PA) and the Paper Recycling Coalition (PRC) applauded the resolution and urged its quick passage.

"On behalf of steel, the world’s most recycling material, we are greatly encouraged by the Senate Resolution supporting recycling. As the economy improves, the steel manufacturing industry will convert more old steel to new steel-- the final step in recycling-- from construction materials to automobiles to containers and other steel products, thus improving our economy and society while reducing environmental effects, " SRI Executive Director Greg Crawford commented.

The Senate Recycling Caucus, formed in 2006 by Carper and Snowe, aims to inform Members of Congress and the general public of the multiple environmental benefits of recycling, in addition to its direct relation to maintaining and protecting the national security interests in the U.S.

The Senate Resolution also points out that "recycling plays an integral role in the sustainable management of materials throughout the life-cycle of a product."

S. Res. 251 also points out that in 2010, "the United States recycling industry collected, processed, and consumed over 130,000,000 metric tons of recyclable material, valued at $77 billion."

S. Res. 251 sponsors include Sens. Carper (D-Del.), Olympia Snow (R-Maine), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Bob Casey (D-Penn.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y). and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).