On March 17, the U.S. Governmental Affairs Committee held a two-hour discussion of these issues, using the February 22 letter from Bill Hickey to Arnold Tenenbaum on this issue as a springboard. The first attachment draws on that discussion in identifying the core principles embodied in a trade policy statement for SSCI for consideration and approval by the Policy and Planning Committee and the Executive Committee. The second attachment attempts to project those principles onto the issues raised by pending trade legislation as a test of their applicability in a real-world context. Any policy position must be grounded in the vital interests of our member companies. As a matter of survival, service centers must protect the value of their inventory.
Inventories comprise roughly half of the assets for the average service center.
A sudden or sharp loss of inventory value can be devastating for a service center and can easily threaten its continued existence as an independent company. Service centers require continuity of supply of steel products at prices that will keep our customers competitive, both at home and when competing in the global economy. Our mission as an industry is to supply our customers with the quantity and quality of the steel they need, when they need it, at a price that permits them to meet the challenges arising from imported goods and competing materials. Service centers should advocate a public policy that guarantees the continuity of supply. In a unique way, the long-term prosperity of the service center industry depends on the success of both our domestic suppliers and our customers.