FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	Contact:	George Felcyn
September 10, 2009		Tel. (202) 828-1715
		george.felcyn@bgllp.com

Washington, DC - The Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition (CITAC) urged the U.S. Foreign-Trade Zones Board today to "consider America's steel using industries and their six million workers" in its review of an application by ThyssenKrupp to conduct manufacturing activity in a U.S. Foreign Trade Zone located in Alabama.

Jonathan Stoel, CITAC Counsel and an attorney at the Washington-based law firm of Hogan & Hartson, testified on behalf of U.S. companies that use imported raw materials, components and finished products or that depend on their availability in the U.S. market to preserve competitive pricing and access to these products: "CITAC members see a significant potential upside for steel-using manufacturers everywhere in the United States from improving the cost structures of their suppliers in the United States. The plain fact is that U.S. consuming industries need a competitive U.S. steel industry, as well as imported steel to address supply shortages in the U.S. market."

"Most steel using manufacturers are small individual businesses," Stoel testified. "They employ, however, about 60 times more workers than the U.S. steel industry. With unemployment approaching 10 percent and America`s small businesses suffering from pressures unseen since the end of World War II, the Board should consider the impact of the FTZ application on downstream U.S. manufacturing jobs. In this time of crisis, America needs competitive opportunities to create and preserve jobs right now."

FTZs permit the use of imported raw materials for production within specially designated areas within the United States for the manufacture of products for shipment into the United States or for export. If those goods are instead sold directly into the stream of commerce within the United States, they are then subject to regular Customs duties on the imported product, as well as antidumping and countervailing duties.

Stoel concluded, "The Board must balance the interests of all Americans in deciding whether this application serves the public interest. … These steel consuming industries are America's manufacturing backbone and include the automobile, construction, appliance, and metal fabrication segments of the American economy."

For additional information, visit www.citac.info or contact George Felcyn at (202) 828-1715 or george.felcyn@bgllp.com.

Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition (CITAC)

George Felcyn, 202-828-1715

george.felcyn@bgllp.com