Domestic steel and the state of fair trade practices

Recently, Zekelman Industries CEO Barry Zekelman spoke with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo about the state of fair trade practices in the United States. As a supporter of equally enforced regulations, Barry Zekelman expressed concerns about foreign countries bypassing tariffs by mislabeling their products or incorrectly claiming their products were made in countries with low duties to avoid taxes.

Zekelman Industries has expressed such concerns for decades. Most recently, Wheatland Tube, a division of the company, challenged a bad actor with an anticircumvention petition on circular welded pipe. At the time, Barry Zekelman said, “Today we are taking this action to ensure that unfairly traded products do not take jobs from American workers or harm U.S. companies. Barry Zekelman intends to vigorously pursue all circumvention related to tubular products.”

Companies that bypass tariffs can impact sustainability efforts

One of Zekelman Industries’ chief concerns with the improper importation of steel is the higher likelihood of that steel being low-quality or “dirty.” As Barry Zekelman pointed out, America has the cleanest, most energy-efficient steel in the world. Both the American steel industry and American consumers are making changes to become green, and the use of low-quality steel products from countries with high-polluting steel industries can negate the progress of both groups.

Zekelman Industries is in it for the steel workers

For Zekelman Industries, American steel workers are always the highest priority. In its fight to challenge and bring awareness to the flaws in the system, one of the company’s goals is to remind people that the fair enforcement of tariffs will mean strengthening U.S. steel companies, enabling them to hire more domestic employees.

Watch Barry Zekelman discuss fair trade agreements to see how they impact the U.S. steel industry.