1 June, 2018The US Administration announced yesterday the imposition of import tariffs on steel and aluminium against several countries. IndustriALL Global Union reiterates its position, which is line with the Political Resolution adopted at the Second Congress, the Declaration on the Global Steel Crisis, and our statement made on 23 March, which clearly states our commitment to play a leading role within the global trade union movement and wider society to advocate our vision of fair global trade that works for all.
In these circumstances, IndustriALL will increase its efforts to combat the persistent global problem of steel and aluminium overcapacity. Although we strongly support efforts to preserve and create jobs in the steel and aluminium industries, we criticize the implementation of tariffs which, as in this case, are indiscriminate, unilateral, and unfair and can provoke a trade war, which in turn would put at risk thousands of jobs in several countries.
Our governments must coordinate efforts in international forums such as the OECD Steel Committee and the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity to pressure China to reduce its capacity, to end unfair practices that create overcapacity, and to prevent it to happen in other countries. IndustriALL Global Union will continue to support those efforts, continue to participate in the OECD Steel Committee, and will continue to seek to open the Global Forum on Steel Excess Capacity to trade union participation.
We further commit to increasing collaboration among our unions in combatting the problem of global overcapacity of steel and aluminium. This collaboration will help to ensure that our global union power and solidarity are strengthened. In this sense, IndustriALL Global Union will participate at the IndustriALL Europe Base Metals meeting in Brussels next week to discuss this issue.
We will keep on working together in solidarity with all our affiliates in the steel and aluminium sectors so that unilateral governmental decisions do not threaten jobs anywhere in the world.