There is cause for both optimism and concern by Utahns in remarks by David M. Roderick, president of U.S. Steel Corporation, during his visit here Wednesday.
Mr. Roderick viewed Geneva Works as cost-competitive with other U.S. Steel facilities and said the outlook for growth in the West “is substantially higher than the national average.” indeed he forecast a bright future for Geneva – provided the serious problem of foreign steel imports can be controlled adequately.
But that last condition amounts to a major cloud on the scene. Foreign steel imports (mainly from Japan) offer a constant barrier to domestic plants in the western steel market. More than that, they stifle growth in the industry.
Mr. Roderick – latest of several U.S. Steel presidents to visit Utah since the Pittsburgh based corporation purchased Geneva Works from the Defense Plant Corporation in 1946 – speculated that the Utah plant might have “several thousand” more jobs than it does now, or could get them in the future, if the dumping of subsidized low-cost foreign steel were stopped.
The steel leader stressed that the “low-cost” is created by subsidies given by foreign governments to their steel producers on steel shipped abroad – an advantage which American steel companies do not get. “We can compete with them on a cost basis minus their subsidies,” he said. “We are not asking for undue advantages for ourselves. We are only asking that our government enforce laws now on the books which would prevent much of the foreign dumping and solve much of our problem.”
He added that tariffs and quotas may be a short term solution but not the permanent answer. “We need free trade, and we can meet the competition if foreign companies were required to meet us in the open market without their government subsidies.”
Mr. Roderick, by his timely remarks, has put new focus on an old problem of special significance here in Utah Valley. The Herald urges both Congress and the administration to analyze the situation and take whatever steps seem appropriate.
Perhaps it is time for legislative steps looking to a fair trade pact with Japan and European countries on steel imports, along with overdue enforcement of regulations already in existence.