A policy group which contains US glass manufacturers has called on tougher tariffs on Chinese glass imports.
The group is led by the United Steelworkers union and has called for the US to impose stronger trade barriers to Chinese imports.
The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) published a report last week which said action was needed to stem a tide of cheap and subsidised exports that threatens US jobs.
The 24-page report is titled Shockwaves: The Ripple Effect of China’s Industrial Overcapacity on American Manufacturing and Factory Workers.
It states Chinese glass production doubled between 2003 and 2009, and the industry’s productive capacity increased at the same rate.
Subsidies for glass manufactured for the Chinese auto-parts industry approximated $1.6 billion between 2004 and 2010.
But while most of its output was consumed domestically, this rapid expansion also fuelled a rise in exports, which increased seven-fold between 2000 and 2007.
“Of that export expansion, Chinese glass exports to the United States tripled from 2000 to 2008, and their share of the US market rose from 3% to 31% over the same period.
“The U.S. glass industry concurrently lost almost 40,000 manufacturing jobs, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The number of American glass plants fell from 35 to 21 between 2005 and 2015.”
Now, China leads glass production globally, exporting 28.7% of the world’s glass and glassware in 2022, compared to 6.6% from the United States, the report said.
The AAM called for the return of an expired import surge protection tool that was created when Beijing joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, the event that turned China into a global export powerhouse.
The Section 421 safeguard was designed to allow the U.S. to impose temporary tariffs to ease market disruptions caused by surges of imports from China’s low-cost manufacturing base that was welcomed into the global trading system 23 years ago.
The idea was to give domestic industries some breathing room as China transitioned to a market economy with a more level playing field – a transition that never came.
With new import surges threatened in sectors such as steel and glass, Section 421 should be revived and modernised, AAM said.
It called for changes to allow such duties on Chinese import surges from plants in third countries, such as Mexico or Vietnam and a faster process to impose the tariffs before permanent damage to US output is done.
It also said the relief options should be broader and longer in duration.
