Memorandum on Annual Determination on Steel Industry Modernization

Memorandum for the United States Trade Representative

Section 806 of the Steel Import Stabilization Act (19 U.S.C. 2253 note) requires that I make an annual affirmative determination that specified conditions have been met by the domestic steel industry to justify continuation of authority under Section 805 to enforce steel restraint agreements. The attached Report of the President under the Steel Import Stabilization Act and the report prepared at my direction by the United States International Trade Commission, Annual Survey Concerning Competitive Conditions in the Steel Industry and Industry Efforts to Adjust and Modernize, enumerate the actions taken by the domestic industry consistent with an affirmative determination under section 806.

Based on this information, I hereby make an affirmative determination for the first annual period (October 1, 1989-September 30, 1990) that during such period:

(A) The major companies of the steel industry, taken as a whole, have —

(i) committed substantially all of their net cash flow from steel product operations for the purposes of reinvestment in, and modernization of, that industry; and(ii) taken sufficient action to maintain their international competitiveness;

(B) each of the major companies experiencing positive net cash flow committed not less than 1 percent of net cash flow to the retraining of workers; and

(C) the enforcement authority provided under section 805 remains necessary to maintain the effectiveness of bilateral arrangements undertaken to eliminate unfair trade practices in the steel sector.

You are hereby authorized and directed to report this determination to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate. This memorandum shall be published in the Federal Register.

GEORGE BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

Washington, September 24, 1990.