Local Officials Testify in D.C. on Free Trade

For years, companies like V&M Star have had to fight what executives claimed were foreign-made goods dumped in this country. But now, Youngstown's mayor admits the suspected unfair trade practices of China in particular could undermine V&M's reported plans to expand its U.S. operations.

"Chinese competitors are dumping their goods in the U.S. market at prices less than what V&M can sometimes acquire the raw materials for," Williams said.

The mayor, and U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Niles, were among a number of elected leaders who testified Tuesday before the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington D.C. So were executives with both V&M Star and Wheatland Tube, whose president, Williams Kerins, said cheap Chinese imports have grown by 200 percent in the last couple of years.

Kerins said his company has "seen no recovery in the last twelve months," and that "there's an ocean of inventory sitting on the ground" of pipe and tube products that have already been shipped here.

U.S. Rep. Kathy Dahlkemper, D-Erie, who also testified Tuesday, claimed a strong case has been made in favor of the U.S. market. She said she's in favor of free trade "but that free trade needs to be fair, and China has not been fair."

Recently, tariffs were imposed on Chinese-made tires coming into the U.S. Ryan believes despite years of waging a largely losing battle against Chinese products, the ITC and the Obama administration will ultimately rule in favor of domestic producers hoping for tariffs of at least 30 percent on dumped goods. He suggested "anything short of a significant tariff coming in...won't be enough."

A preliminary ruling could be made within the next month.