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NAFTA Steel Producers Welcome North American Competitiveness Council
March 31, 2006 ( Cancun, Mexico )
North American steel producers today welcomed the announcement in Cancun by the three NAFTA Leaders that they plan to create a North American Manufacturing Competitiveness Council. The NAFTA Leaders’ Summit included participation by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Vincente Fox. The new Council is to include executives from the automotive, steel and manufacturing industries of all three NAFTA countries. In the 2005 Security & Prosperity Partnership (SPP) Report to Leaders, NAFTA Ministers labeled steel a “strategic” industry.
“North American steel producers look forward to exploring with NAFTA governments, on a consensus basis, ways to further the competitiveness of the NAFTA manufacturing industry,” said Octavio Rangel Frausto, General Director of the Mexican Steel Producers Association (CANACERO).
“Steel has been working with customer industries to help them compete in a global marketplace and maintain steel as the material of choice,” said Andrew G. Sharkey, III, President and CEO of the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI).
“North America’s steel producers support government policies to ensure market-based competition,” said Thomas A. Danjczek, President of the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA). “The Council should encourage NAFTA governments to work together to address imbalances that have the potential to reduce the competitiveness of manufacturing industries in North America.”
“Given the critical importance of steel to national defense and homeland security in the NAFTA region, we expect the Council to recognize the need to promote industry competitiveness through innovation and market development,” said David A. Hartquist, Counsel to the Specialty Steel Industry of North America. “We need to build on collaborative partnerships and keep the focus on sustainability, technology and attracting more engineers and metallurgists to this vital industry.”
“This should allow us to engage with other manufacturing industries to preserve and strengthen the North American manufacturing base,” said Barry Lacombe, President of the Canadian Steel Producers Association (CSPA). “We need to understand and address the competitiveness challenges posed by China, India and other emerging markets, and develop cross-border pro-manufacturing policies to ensure dependable and cost-competitive policies for North American producers of steel and other manufactured goods.”
Over the past three years, NAFTA steel industries have been working closely with the governments of Canada, the United States and Mexico to explore and define elements of a North American manufacturing strategy. That work is now being intensified.
The North American steel industry supports the overall competitiveness, prosperity and security of North America. Steel producers in North America employ more than 1.5 million people through direct and related jobs, and contribute over U.S. $80 billion in annual sales revenue. The member companies of participating NASTC associations account for more than 95 percent of the carbon and specialty steel products made annually in North America.
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