{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=833A5F65-7F2D-4679-9664-495600408E0F", "Portman Testifies Before ITC, Fights to Protect Ohio Jobs from Unfair Foreign Trade", "2016-12-07", "2016", "2016-12", "Republican", "House", "OH", "Rob Portman", "P000449", "www.portman.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) testified before the International Trade Commission (ITC) to fight on behalf of Ohio workers and against unfair trade practices. Specifically, Portman, who has a lengthy record of delivering results for Ohio workers, is fighting to protect Whirlpool and its 10,000 Ohio workers, including the more than 3,000 workers at Whirlpool\u2019s largest American factory in Clyde, Ohio, from unlawful dumping of clothes washers into the United States. \u00a0\r\nIn 2012, the ITC heeded Portman\u2019s concerns that South Korean companies were engaging in unlawful dumping of clothes washers into the U.S.\u00a0Following the ruling, however, South Korean manufacturers moved their washer production facilities to China, skirting the order and continuing to dump its products unfairly into the United States. The Commerce Department recently issued a preliminary ruling confirming that South Korean manufacturers continue to engage in unlawful dumping of clothes washers into the U.S., an issue that Senator Portman argues violates our trade laws:\r\n\u201cI want to thank you for making the right decision in that case regarding Korea and finding material injury. But before your final determination was even reached in that case, Samsung and LG were already moving their production to China.\u00a0 Free of duties that the Commission had imposed on the washers coming from Korea, they continued to target the U.S. market and have continued to undermine Whirlpool\u2019s investments in American plants and American jobs. That\u2019s what makes the case before you today so clear \u2013\u2013 you have the very same producers and the very same model numbers from the prior case and the only change is their label of \u2018Made in Korea\u2019 to \u2018Made in China.\u2019\u00a0The outcome of this case should be the same as the outcome in the first.\u201d\r\n\r\nSenator Portman\u2019s prepared testimony can be found below:\r\nTestimony of Senator Rob Portman\r\nBefore the United States International Trade Commission\r\nHearing on Large Residential Washers from China\r\nDecember 7, 2016\u00a0\r\nChairman Williamson, Vice-Chairman Johanson, and Members of the Commission.\r\nI want to thank you for the opportunity to testify this morning as you consider the petition filed by Whirlpool Corporation for antidumping duties on large residential washers imported from China. \u00a0\r\nI also want to thank my Congressional colleagues from Ohio, Senator Brown and Congressman Tiberi, and especially the many Ohioans who travelled all the way from Clyde, Ohio, who are here in the room.\u00a0 I\u2019m told that there are 52 employees from the Clyde plant here today, and the only reason there aren\u2019t a couple hundred more is that 52 is all the bus would fit!\u00a0 Their attendance here today shows the pride they have in what they make and what they do.\r\nThese are just some of the more than 3,000 workers employed at the Clyde facility, and the more than 10,000 Whirlpool employees in my home state of Ohio.\u00a0 Whirlpool is not the only washing machine manufacturer in and around Ohio: Staber produces in Groveport and GE is operating just across the border in Kentucky.\u00a0 These are important American companies that provide jobs, benefits, and livelihoods to families in our local communities.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\r\nI\u2019ve visited the Clyde plant, and I\u2019ve seen firsthand the work that these Ohioans do. It is a top-notch facility that produces a world class product efficiently.\u00a0 They\u2019ve invested in innovation, including energy efficiency. Every four seconds one of these high quality washers comes off the assembly line. While autonomous vehicles are still in the testing phase in most places, you can see more than 60 buzzing around the Clyde plant\u2019s floor, where they\u2019re helping to produce washers faster and more efficiently than ever.\u00a0\r\nBut it\u2019s not just a washing machine plant; it\u2019s an integral part of the fabric of the community.\u00a0Plant manager Dan O\u2019Brien tells us \u2013 and he\u2019s here today, so he can tell you, too \u2013 that a study they did in 2014 showed that a third of the jobs in Sandusky County are in some way connected to the Clyde plant, whether they be suppliers, restaurants, or schools.\u00a0 Seventy percent of the County\u2019s United Way funds come from the Clyde plant.\u00a0 The Clyde plant is family, in some cases literally: more than ten percent of the workforce work at the plant with relatives, and some families have four generations who have worked there.\r\nSo today we\u2019re not just talking about one factory, but an entire community.\r\nNearly four years ago, I testified to you in another case affecting Whirlpool.\u00a0 At that time, Whirlpool told you that it was in the process of repatriating its production and bringing good paying jobs back home, bringing jobs to America from countries like Mexico and Germany.\u00a0 Whirlpool kept its promise. They are investing in America and in Ohio in particular. \u00a0The company placed its faith in the marketplace and in America and the notion that if you made a high-quality, competitive product that consumers want to buy, and you price it fairly, your investments will pay off.\u00a0\r\nI want to thank you for making the right decision in that case regarding Korea and finding material injury. But before your final determination was even reached in that case, Samsung and LG were already moving their production to China.\u00a0 Free of duties that the Commission had imposed on the washers coming from Korea, they continued to target the U.S. market and have continued to undermine Whirlpool\u2019s investments in American plants and American jobs.\u00a0\r\nThat\u2019s what makes the case before you today so clear \u2013\u2013 you have the very same producers and the very same model numbers from the prior case and the only change is their label of \u201cMade in Korea\u201d to \u201cMade in China.\u201d\u00a0The outcome of this case should be the same as the outcome in the first.\r\nThese washers continue to be dumped in significant volumes in the U.S. market. Faced with having to sell at fair value and potentially lose business, Samsung and LG moved to China.\u00a0 A few months ago, the Commerce Department found dumping up to 111 percent.\u00a0 Both companies picked up their production and moved to other countries.\u00a0 Today, these duty evaders continue to sell underpriced washers in the United States.\r\n\r\nYears ago, Congress added the critical circumstances provision to the antidumping\u00a0statute to deal with this type of behavior.\u00a0 Retroactive duty liability was authorized to stop companies from moving to a different country and rapidly shipping large volumes of merchandise to the United States in advance of a preliminary determination from the Commerce Department.\u00a0 The application of retroactive duty liability may be the only remedy available to the American industry in this particular case.\u00a0\r\nI\u2019ve visited dozens of manufacturing centers across Ohio, and many workers have told me that they\u2019re skeptical about our ability to police unfair trade. They\u2019re worried.\u00a0 This concern is the reason my colleague Senator Brown and I wrote and passed the Leveling the Playing Field Act to give this Commission the tools to find material injury in these types of cases.\u00a0 Leveling the Playing Field expressly put into the AD/CVD statute that workers should not have to be laid off or plants shuttered before the Commission finds material injury.\u00a0 I urge the Commission to pay close attention to these new provisions when deciding this case. \u00a0 \u00a0\r\nI\u2019m here today because this case is critical to families and communities in Ohio, and to securing future investment and job creation by companies like Whirlpool.\u00a0 They\u2019re doing the right thing and investing in our country, but I am concerned that, if we don\u2019t protect them from unfair trade, they will no longer be able to do so.\r\nI want to thank the Commission once again for examining this case closely.\u00a0My experience as a former United States Trade Representative and as a United States Senator from one of the top manufacturing states in the country is that this Commission has been able to look at these cases objectively and apply the law fairly and evenhandedly.\u00a0\u00a0I want to thank you again for the opportunity to appear before you and speak up on behalf of these Ohio workers whose livelihoods are under attack by unfair imports. Thank you.\r\n###", 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://www.portman.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/press-releases?ID=833A5F65-7F2D-4679-9664-495600408E0F"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.7584669403731823, "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"}