U.S. CUSTOMS OPENS STEEL MONITORING CENTER

U.S. CUSTOMS OPENS STEEL MONITORING CENTER

    U.S. Customs will open a center in Chicago next week to monitor
trends and developments in steel imports, in response to the recent White House Steel
Action Program.
   Customs has been tracking imported steel from Chicago for about two years as
part of its Office of Strategic Trade. "Now we have the weight of the White House
telling us to do this," said Christopher M. Perry, international trade manager for
Customs.
   The new steel monitoring center will be managed by Ed Goggin, director of
Customs’ Strategic Trade Center in Chicago. Eight Customs staffers will support the
program. The center will also communicate regularly with Customs’ port offices around the
country.
   Customs says the center will work closely with the Commerce Department and
the U.S. Trade Representative’s office on steel import issues. The agency will also
communicate regularly with industry groups, such as the American Iron and Steel Institute
and the American Institute for International Steel, their feedback.
   Customs has done similar work with textile imports from its office in
New York. "In the future, Customs will have to be alert to these particular areas of
interest and devote resources to them," said Philip Metzger, director of strategic
trade operations at Customs’ Office of Strategic Trade in Washington.