The Minister for Trade, Mark Vaile, the Minister for Industry,
Tourism and Resources, Ian Macfarlane, and the Minister for Justice
and Customs, Senator Chris Ellison, convened a meeting of steel
industry representatives in Canberra on 19 March to discuss Australian
responses to the US Administration decision to impose safeguard
restrictions on steel imports. Representatives from BHP Steel,
Smorgon Steel Group, OneSteel, and the Australian Industry Group
attended the meeting, along with representatives from the Australian
Council of Trade Unions, the Australian Workers’ Union and the Australian
Manufacturing Workers’ Union.
The meeting expressed its concern at the US decision to impose
restrictions on imports of steel products into the US market.
The participants agreed the decision was an inappropriate way to
deal with the problems of the US industry and it would have a major
effect on the global steel industry and on international trade in
steel products.
The participants noted the highly efficient nature of the Australian
steel sector and that the sector had undergone considerable restructuring
in the process of improving its international competitiveness.
The participants registered their disappointment that, despite the
fact that Australia was not part of the problem facing the world
steel sector, the Australian industry had also been affected by
the US decision to restrict imports.
The participants noted with satisfaction that Australia had succeeded
in preserving a substantial proportion of its exports to the US,
while reiterating their commitment to see the earliest possible
removal of all import restrictions. They praised the efforts of
those involved and expressed their appreciation of the US Administration’s
responsiveness.
They noted, however, that the US restrictions would still have
a significant impact on the Australian steel sector, both directly
on exports as well as through trade diversion. There was also concern
at the possible impact on upstream product exports, particularly
if the US restrictions remained in place for an extended period
of time.
Participants discussed the possible impact of the US restrictions
on Australia and agreed on a range of actions – at both Government
and industry levels - to address the challenges identified.
The agreed actions from the Summit are as follows:
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Participants agreed
that the Government should establish a Ministerial Task Force,
to include Ministers, industry CEOs, the Australian Industry Group
and the union, to consult on the response to US steel import restrictions
and the impact of those restrictions
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To assist the Task
Force, participants also agreed to establish a Steel Monitoring
Committee, including relevant government agencies, the companies,
the Australian Industry Group and the union, to monitor imports
of steel and any diversion from other markets
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The participants
agreed to cooperate closely in monitoring import trends with a
view to being prepared to respond quickly to any possible disruption
to the Australian market as a result of the US restrictions
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Participants agreed
on the need to be alert to the potential for dumped imports and
to ensure Australian authorities were capable of addressing effectively
any threat from dumped or subsidised imports
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The Government
indicated that it would preserve all options for action in the
WTO in order to protect all of Australia’s trade interests in
the steel issue. As a first step, consultations would be held
in coming days with the US under the WTO Safeguards Agreement.
Further action in the WTO would be considered when those consultations
were completed and the outcome known
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The Government
undertook to accord high priority to steel market access issues
in the forthcoming Doha Round of WTO multilateral trade negotiations
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The Government
and industry reconfirmed Australia’s support for efforts to address
the problems facing the global steel industry, particularly the
problems of over-capacity. Australia remained willing to participate
constructively in the current OECD High-level group meetings on
steel, with the US and other countries. Australia expressed its
hope that other countries would also continue their participation
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The Government
undertook to work cooperatively with industry to identify new
export opportunities and to successfully implement new export
plans
The Government also repeated its resolve to press ahead with efforts
to negotiate a bilateral free trade agreement with the US, as a
means of dealing with such measures in the future and progressively
to liberalise trade and investment between the two countries.
The participants also agreed to reconvene as required to review
the situation and discuss further action as necessary.
