Lawmakers oppose equipment sale
WASHINGTON (AP) – Ohio and Pennsylvania lawmakers are asking the U.S. Export-Import Bank to oppose the sale of steel-making equipment from an American firm to a steel company in Turkey. Republican Reps. Bob Ney, of Ohio, and Phil English and Patrick Toomey, of Pennsylvania, said in a letter to the bank released Monday that the sale would harm the U.S. steel industry and conflict with recently imposed tariffs.
Delta Brands Inc. has asked the bank for $18.9 million in support for the sale of steel pickling equipment to Erdemir, the largest steel producer in Turkey.
Pickling is a step in steel production that temporarily removes a layer of rust from the metal to add value and prepare it for additional work, said Velinda Savariego, a spokeswoman for Delta Brands, which is based in Irving, Texas.
Savariego said the sale has already been made, but financing for the deal has been stalled at the bank because of the lawmakers’ concerns, which she says are based on inaccurate information.
The congressmen contend that the sale would help Turkey produce more steel and hurt the domestic steel industry, which has already been devastated by a flood of low-priced foreign imports since 1997.
“Pickling does not produce steel. It adds value to steel already produced,” she said.
The Turkish company wants pickling equipment for use on a type of plate steel not covered by the tariffs, Savariego said.
“This product does not have a negative impact on the U.S. steel industry,” she said.
President Bush in March levied tariffs of 8 percent to 30 percent for three years on certain kinds of imported steel in order to give the domestic industry time to reorganize and become more competitive.
The bank’s four-member board of directors is expected to consider whether it will support or oppose the sale of the pickling equipment at its meeting Thursday, spokesman Bo Ollison said.
Created in 1934, the government-operated Ex-Im Bank provides loans, loan guarantees and insurance to American companies to help finance their sales overseas and compete against often heavily subsidized foreign competitors.
Turkey is in the midst of a serious economic crisis. The country was awarded a $1.1 billion loan from the U.S. International Monetary Fund earlier this month as part of a broad assistance package.
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On the Net:
Export-Import Bank: http://www.exim.gov/
Delta Brands: http://www.dbimfg.com/