March 3, 2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICAGO – The structural steel fabrication community will be part of the discussion for the first time when the Congressional Steel Caucus convenes a hearing on the state of the steel industry Thursday.

David Zalesne, president of Columbia, S.C.-based Owen Steel Company and the immediate past-chair of the American Institute of Steel Construction, is set to give a fabricator’s perspective on the market, including potential implications of the U.S. International Trade Commission’s decision to deny relief to the domestic industry in a recent trade case regarding fabricated structural steel imports from China, Canada, and Mexico.

“We remain vulnerable to imports,” Zalesne said in prepared testimony, noting that despite the potential for congressional infrastructure action this year, the industry remains wary of ongoing challenges to the goals and benefits of Buy America requirements. “Regardless of whether infrastructure is financed through tax dollars, user fees, bonds, tax credits, or any other mechanism Wall Street dreams up, America’s infrastructure is a public trust, and the steel components at the heart of our infrastructure should never be outsourced to offshore peddlers,” Zalesne said.

Other steel company chief executives will join Zalesne at the hearing, which is hosted by Steel Caucus Chairman Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) and Vice-Chairmen Reps. Mike Bost (R-Ill.) and Rick Crawford (R-Ark.). Representatives from the United Steelworkers (USW), the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), the Committee on Pipe and Tube Imports (CPTI), and others will also participate.  

What:  Congressional Steel Caucus Hearing

When:   8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., Thursday, March 5, 2020

Where:  Room 2020, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington

Witnesses:  

• David Zalesne – President, Owen Steel Company; Immediate Past-Chair, American Institute of Steel Construction
• John Brett - President and CEO, ArcelorMittal USA
• Leon Topalian – President and CEO, Nucor Corporation
• Lourenco Goncalves – Chairman, President and CEO, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
• Richard L. Fruehauf – Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning and Chief Strategy & Development Officer, U.S. Steel Corporation
• Jim Charmley – President and CEO, Bull Moose Tube
• Tom Conway – International President, United Steelworkers (USW)
• Barbara R. Smith – Chairman, President and CEO, Commercial Metals Company