Rather, political pressure from importers will probably result in a relaxation of Customs vigilance, thus opening the floodgates to imports without the ability to assure that these imports are within the laws, regulations and rules of Customs specifically and the United States in general. It is not in the best interests of the U.S. economy or U.S. industry to allow the ACS to fail, because the resulting flood of imports, many of which will be opportunistic and unfairly traded, will cause substantial harm to American interests. The benefit to U.S. importers will be short lived, but the injury to competing domestic manufacturers of the imported goods will be enduring. While imports have begun to recede, they are still above acceptable historical levels. Steel import reductions are coming only as the result of extraordinary efforts by AISI members and the House and Senate Steel Caucuses.
Economic crises endure in Asia, the former USSR and Latin America.
If we relax our pressure against unfair imports, the probability that they will re-escalate to 1998 levels is very high. It is imperative that we have the most up to date information possible on the level of steel imports, so we can proactively defend ourselves against unfair trade. This system would require that an electronic notice of importation accompany each import entry. The notices would be accumulated and published weekly in summary form on an Internet web site. A similar system is in use in Canada, and Mexico also has a steel monitoring program.