Rep. McDonald Rivet Leads Effort to Defend Michigan Jobs from China’s Unfair Trade Practices
“We cannot afford to lose our domestic operations to foreign producers that take advantage of unfair practices to dismantle the U.S. industry.”
WASHINGTON— Today, Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08) led Michigan Members of Congress in urging the U.S. International Trade Commission to protect American manufacturers and Michigan jobs in the methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) industry from unfair trade practices by the Chinese Communist Party.
“For far too long, China has been flooding our markets with artificially cheap chemicals, threatening thousands of good-paying Michigan jobs,” said Congresswoman McDonald Rivet. “We can’t have it — it’s bad for not just our local economy, but also our national security. It’s time for America to get tough and stop the Chinese Communist Party from cheating our workers.”
MDI is a critical raw material used in building materials, vehicle parts, furnishings, and insulation, essential to construction, manufacturing, wastewater treatment, and other major industries. MDI is crucial to a $35 billion market that supports nearly 60,000 American jobs, with thousands located in mid-Michigan.
Joining Congresswoman McDonald Rivet in sending this letter are Representatives Debbie Dingell (MI-06), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Hillary Scholten (MI-03), and Shri Thanedar (MI-13).
The letter from the lawmakers reads, in part, “For years, China has dumped MDI imports far below fair market value, forcing our producers to compete with artificially low prices and ultimately devalue American-made products. These unethical tactics not only undermine fair competition, destabilize American economic interests, and threaten our jobs but also undermine national security. If we do not produce MDI at home, our supply chains across critical sectors will become vulnerable to Chinese leverage.
“We cannot afford to lose our domestic operations to foreign producers that take advantage of unfair practices to dismantle the U.S. industry. We urge the Commission to make an affirmative material injury determination to grant relief from these unfair trade practices and sustain U.S. domestic production and the workforce in Michigan and across the United States.”
A copy of the letter can be found here.