AISI Releases Public Policy Priorities for American Steel in 2017

by Jeff Yoders on FEBRUARY 6, 2017

The American Iron and Steel Institute Board of Directors has approved a public policy agenda outlining an aggressive, pro-manufacturing policy to guide advocacy for the upcoming year and highlight importance of the steel industry to the success of the American economy.

 “The impact public policies have on manufacturers must be carefully considered to ensure economic growth and our national security. Our 2017 Public Policy Agenda highlights a concerted effort on behalf of members of the North American steel industry to combat foreign unfair trade practices, create jobs, highlight our innovations and sustainability, and strengthen the manufacturing base,” said Thomas J. Gibson, AISI president and CEO. “We will be sharing our priorities with policymakers and government leaders, and look forward to working together to turn obstacles into opportunities.”

Highlights AISI priorities for 2017 include:

1. Press China and other nations to eliminate their steel overcapacity and to end all subsidies;
   Enforce aggressively and expeditiously U.S. unfair trade laws.
2. Defend the right to treat China as a Non Market Economy at the WTO.
3. Improve the implementation of the ENFORCE Act against trade law evasion.
4. Reduce the corporate tax rate to 15-20% while maintaining accelerated cost recovery.
5. Revise the EPA Clean Power Plan and the New Source Performance Standard for utility greenhouse gas emissions.
6. Ensure the approval and completion of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines and  facilitate investment in our national energy infrastructure.
7. Withdraw EPA’s final determination for the light-duty vehicle GHG standards for model years 2022-2025.
8. Ensure infrastructure funding is accompanied by reforms that streamline permitting and approval of large projects to speed project delivery time and reduce added cost.
9. Direct increased funding of infrastructure improvements towards long-term, multi-year projects.