Alan M. Field | Jul 07, 2009 12:15PM EDT
So-called “cap and trade” legislation passed in the House and pending in the Senate has “created a new threat to American manufacturing,” the president of the American Institute for International Steel said Tuesday.
David Phelps, president of the AIIS, which represents steel importers and exporters, said HR 2454, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, “would increase the costs of making steel, increase the cost of transporting steel and increase the cost to run our customers’ facilities.”
Phelps urged the Senate to “kill this ill-conceived and ill-timed legislation. It is not time to pass a new vast regressive tax on the American people, struggling to keep their jobs during the recession.”
Phelps added, “Steel consumers, their steel suppliers and logistics firms will be forced to absorb these costs at a time when they are struggling to survive. And the cost will escalate rapidly over the term of the legislation.”
Contact Alan Field at afield@joc.com.