{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://web.archive.org/web/20140222045032/http://www.sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=90abec74-94e2-f048-383c-0662f06627d5", "Sessions Joins Bipartisan Letter To Commerce Department To Ensure Fair Trade For Alabama, U.S. Steel Workers", "2013-11-25", "2013", "2013-11", "Republican", "House", "AL", "Jeff Sessions", "S001141", "web.archive.org", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON\u2014U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) signed a bipartisan letter sent to the Department of Commerce regarding antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on oil country tubular goods (OCTG) from China:\n\u00a0\nA full text of the letter follows. To view it as a PDF, please click here:\n\u00a0\nNovember 25, 2013\n\u00a0\n\u201cThe Honorable Penny S. Pritzker\nSecretary of Commerce\nU.S. Department of Commerce\n1401 Constitution Avenue, N.W.\nWashington, D.C. 20230\n\u00a0\nDear Secretary Pritzker:\n\u00a0\nWe are writing to follow up on an issue that continues to be of vital importance to our constituents \u2013 namely, the need for continued strong enforcement of the existing antidumping (\u201cAD\u201d) and countervailing duty (\u201cCVD\u201d) orders on oil country tubular goods (\u201cOCTG\u201d) from China.\u00a0 The orders have provided much needed relief to our industry and workers, who were subjected to massive injury from the influx of dumped and subsidized OCTG from China in 2008 and 2009.\n\u00a0\nWe understand that within a few weeks the Department of Commerce intends to issue the final results of a scope inquiry to determine whether minor finishing (such as heat treating) of OCTG from China in third countries is enough to change its \"country of origin\" for purposes of the AD/CVD orders and to exempt it from trade relief.\u00a0 In May, the Department preliminarily determined that such minor finishing is not enough to change the country of origin of Chinese OCTG.\u00a0 We applaud that ruling and greatly appreciate the hard work and extensive fact-finding and analysis that went into it.\u00a0 While the preliminary scope determination was focused specifically on the finishing of Chinese OCTG in Indonesia, it nevertheless is a critical determination that confirms the original intent of the orders and has broad applicability to all potential third country processing of Chinese-origin OCTG.\u00a0 \n\u00a0\nAs it prepares its final results, we urge the Department to keep in mind the critical importance of this issue for our workers and the U.S. industry as a whole.\u00a0 The U.S. OCTG\u00a0 industry believes that any finding that minor finishing of Chinese OCTG in third countries is enough to alter its country of origin would be unsupported by the evidence and would open a\u00a0 large loophole in the AD and CVD orders and encourage rampant circumvention and evasion.\u00a0 In this regard, we understand that it would be a relatively simple matter for Chinese producers to take advantage of the numerous finishing operations that exist around the world, or to set up new operations to evade the existing trade relief.\u00a0 That outcome would be inconsistent with the purpose and scope of the existing trade orders on China, and would threaten the U.S. OCTG\u00a0industry and workers with enormous additional harm.\n\u00a0\nAs you know, these orders have been vitally important to the U.S. industry and American steel workers.\u00a0 After being devastated by a massive wave of dumped and subsidized Chinese imports that negatively impacted this market in a matter of months, the U.S. industry is now in a fragile recovery.\u00a0 Opening a new path to circumvention of the orders would severely threaten that recovery and the relief from unfair trade that our companies and workers fought so hard to achieve.\n\u00a0\nAccordingly, we urge you to make sure that the Department is interpreting these orders as intended and as needed to ensure that they are effective.\n\u00a0\nSincerely,\n\u00a0\nU.S. Senator Jeff Sessions,\nU.S. Senator Sherrod Brown,\nU.S. Senator Rob Portman,\nU.S. Senator Joe Donnelly\nU.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar,\nU.S. Senator Carl Levin,\nU.S. Senator Al Franken,\nU.S. Senator Richard Shelby,\nU.S. Senator Bob Casey,\nU.S. Senator Dan Coats,\nU.S. Senator Mark Pryor,\nU.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow\u201d\n\u00a0\nBACKGROUND:\nSenator Sessions signed a letter to the Department of Commerce expressing concerns with Chinese efforts to avoid U.S. antidumping and countervailing duties on oil country tubular goods (OCTG). In May 2013, the Department of Commerce issued a preliminary ruling that minor finishing of Chinese OCTG in Indonesia is not enough to change the OCTG\u2019s Chinese country of origin label. The Department of Commerce\u2019s final ruling on this matter is expected within the next few weeks.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://web.archive.org/web/20140222045032/http://www.sessions.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/news-releases?ID=90abec74-94e2-f048-383c-0662f06627d5"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5280090738087893, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}