FILE – U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., speaks before President Joe Biden about his infrastructure agenda while announcing funding to upgrade Philadelphia’s water facilities and replace lead pipes, Feb. 3, 2023, at Belmont Water Treatment Center in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) joined U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and a bipartisan group of colleagues to introduce the Stop Mexico’s Steel Surge Act to curb the unsustainable levels of Mexican steel imports into the United States. The Mexican government is violating a 2019 agreement with the U.S. and threatening the jobs of steelworkers in Pennsylvania and across the Nation.

“When foreign governments cheat on trade, Pennsylvanians lose their jobs,” said Senator Casey. “It’s past time to make Mexico play by the rules. Just as I pushed the previous administration, I am going to keep pushing the Biden Administration to hold trade cheats accountable and level the playing field for American workers.”

In December 2023, Casey joined a bipartisan group of senators to call on the Biden Administration to take action to stop an unsustainable increase in Mexican steel imports. In the letter, Senators demanded the Administration set a clear deadline to enforce its 2019 agreement with Mexico and urged the Administration to take aggressive action to counter the increase in Mexican steel imports if the country refuses to comply. Casey previously pushed the Trump Administration to protect the American steel industry from trade cheats.

The Stop Mexico’s Steel Surge Act would reinstate 25 percent Section 232 tariffs on Mexican steel imports for no less than one year and empower the president to impose quotas or tariff rate quotas on specific goods where there have been major surges. The administration may only lift these tariffs once the Secretary of Commerce and U.S. Trade Representative certify that Mexico has adopted policies bringing it into compliance with the 2019 agreement and are confident that Mexico will maintain these policies.

In addition to Casey, Brown, and Cotton, the Stop Mexico’s Steel Surge Act is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Rick Scott (R-FL), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Mike Braun (R-IN), Ted Budd (R-NC), John Boozman (R-AR), and J.D. Vance (R-OH).