AUBURN, N.Y. — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) on Monday called on the federal government to “strike while the iron is hot” to stop China and other countries from laundering steel through Mexico to avoid tariffs.

Schumer’s call comes “on the heels of the Biden administration announcing historic, new rules to protect the U.S. steel industry from China’s unfair trade practices,”Schumer’s office said in a Monday announcement.

The lawmaker discussed the issue during a visit to Nucor in Auburn.

Schumer explained when cheap, Chinese-made steel products flood the market through Mexico, it hurts Central New York steel producers, like Nucor in Auburn, Crucible Steel in Geddes, and Novellis in Oswego, which cannot compete with this “unfair dumping.”

“The Biden administration’s just-announced actions to hit back against China’s continued rule-breaking are a big step in the right direction, but more needs to be done now to address the Mexico steel dumping loophole,” Schumer said in the announcement. “That’s why I am calling on the feds to level the playing field for American-made steel and prevent Chinese exports from exploiting loopholes to gain access to U.S. markets.”

“China has shown time and time again that they will explore every avenue to game the system and exploit any loopholes to get their over-subsidized products into the U.S., hurting businesses like Nucor here in Central NY. The new steel tariffs are a major step to level the playing field for Nucor and American steel manufacturers and workers, but we cannot rest and must strike while the iron is hot to do more. China continues to avoid tariffs by routing their imports through Mexico, and today, I’m saying enough is enough,”said Senator Schumer. “The previous administration negotiated the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and left glaring loopholes when it comes to Chinese exports entering the U.S. market via Mexico. That’s why I’m launching my push calling on the feds to close the trade enforcement gaps that allow China to evade tariffs. Nucor is top of its class, but they can’t compete if the game is rigged with artificially cheap, over-subsidized products from China. We must ensure the U.S. gets our steel from American manufacturers like Nucor in Central New York, not China.”

Schumer went to say that China is “flooding the market with cheap products,” using Chinese Communist Party (CCP) governmental subsidies to overproduce steel and “undercut” American manufacturers.

To support U.S. manufacturers, President Biden has committed to tripling the existing section 301 tariff rate on Chinese steel and aluminum from 7.5 percent to 25 percent. Schumer said that this is a “vital action, but it’s crucial” to stop China from avoiding these tariffs by entering U.S. steel markets through Mexico, to ensure the “maximum effectiveness” of these new actions to promote American-made steel like Nucor’s.

Now, Schumer is pushing for the next step to build on this momentum and gain a commitment from the feds to get Mexico to stop allowing Chinese steel to get into the U.S. market tariff-free.