Tai appeared alongside Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and Rep. Chrissy Hoolahan, toured the Cleveland-Cliffs facility and spoke about the importance of “thinking about industrial policy in new ways.”
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai said Friday that the Biden administration will build a worker-centered trade policy that grows the middle class and reverses decades of globalization that “led to the famous race to the bottom.” He said he is making progress toward that goal.
Mr. Tai was joined by Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and Representative Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pennsylvania). Fireside chat hosted by the Cleveland Cliffs at a steel mill in Coatesville, PennsylvaniaThere, the group discussed how to implement and continue policies that strengthen domestic manufacturing and high-wage union employment. The event was hosted by Lourenco Goncalves, Chairman, President and CEO of the Cleveland Cliffs, and United Steelworkers (USW) District 10 Director Bernie Hall also gave remarks, and the group also toured the plant.
Coatesville facilities include: Oldest continuously operating steel mill He helped build everything from steam locomotives to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis. Today, the plant is where USW-represented workers make high-tech steel products essential to our nation’s national and economic security, ranging from military armored steel to wind turbines and other emerging clean energy infrastructure. The company produces everything from steel to steel.
But like most U.S. manufacturers, the factory remains threatened by unfair trade practices from countries such as China and Mexico, Goncalves said. Sensible policies like the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act and the Inflation Control Act have provided a major boost to operations at the Coatesville plant and other Cliff facilities across the country, but there is no guarantee that the U.S. “doesn’t make the mistakes we’ve made in the past.” “That” is extremely important. ” he said.
Other speakers expressed similar sentiments. Tai said the Biden administration is working to reverse decades of trade policy that favored offshoring to maximize corporate profits over the interests of workers and the middle class, and that it is “increasingly and have continually pitted Americans against each other.”
“This is the fight and this is what we’ve been fighting for,” Tai said. “So what we’re trying to do with worker-centered trade policy is flip the script.”
Tai said the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement (USMCA) mechanism allows workers in all three countries to hold companies accountable when they move production overseas in search of unreasonably cheap labor. He pointed to the administration’s success in enforcing the law. The mechanism has been activated more than 30 times, giving more than 30,000 workers in Mexico “a free and fair vote for a union that actually represents their interests,” Tai said. said.
“We are just beginning to level the playing field between American workers and Mexican workers,” Tai said. “What we’re talking about is eliminating conflicts between workers.”
Mr. Tai noted that progress is clearly being made not only in improving trade policy, but also in increasing collaboration between the Department of Labor and the USTR on many of these issues. Tai said the two departments have traditionally been opposing factions within the government, but they have worked together much more cohesively under President Biden, calling it a “commitment to excellence and a unified vision.” .
Sue said when she visits communities like Coatesville, she sees progress.
“If you just watch the news, there’s so much noise and so much vitriol, but when you sit down with people in the community, they just want an unbiased opinion,” she said. spoke. “I’m really proud to be part of an administration that is trying to expand fair opportunity.”
Houlahan, who represents Coatesville in Congress, noted that it’s not just the steel mill where progress is evident. The entire community feels the benefits. As part of their visit to Pennsylvania City on Friday, the VIPs were also scheduled to visit a startup incubator and a new grocery store.
“My feeling is just looking at this community, just looking at this community and seeing progress,” she said.
While much remains to be done to reverse decades of damage caused by globalization, Tai argued that it is possible to “reverse the scenario” on trade.
“If humanity can find a way to send other people – humans – to space and to the moon, I promise you we can find a way to do it too,” she said.
