Executive Chairman of the Board, Olympic Steel
Search every verified Michael Siegal interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Michael Siegal, executive chairman of Olympic Steel, has spoken about the impact of global steel overcapacity on the U.S. industry. In a 2016 testimony before U.S. trade officials, he stated that the crisis originated from "interventionist practices and policies of huge steel players like China," which he said had flooded markets with "dumped and subsidized imports." He called on the U.S. Trade Representative and the Commerce Department to strengthen enforcement of anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws. In a 2018 interview, Siegal said that China now produces ten times the amount of steel as the United States, and he described the situation as an "economic war on the industrial base." He also commented on the Cleveland economy, saying it had transitioned from an industrial town to a medical town, but expressed skepticism about the service economy, stating it is "trading the same dollar over and over again and not really generating GDP growth."
“China and the United States produce the same amount of steel in 2001 and now China makes ten times the amount of steel that we do here in the United States and so we're inundated over the years with unfairly traded imports not only in imports in raw steel but of products that are made of steel.”
“I think we have been at an economic war on the industrial base. I think China has unfairly traded many of the aspects that have hurt our ability to take undereducated individuals and allow them to have a productive life in industry.”
“If we don't have trade schools and people who can actually have skills coming out of our high schools and our Community College we can't all just be serviced somebody has to make something somebody has to fix something.”
“I think as we have like any pendulum that has gone too far in one direction the pendulum is starting to swing back but very slowly coming back from where it was.”
“Cleveland has transitioned from a major industrial town to basically a medical town and kudos to the Cleveland Clinic but to some degree I'm not a big believer the service economy is trading the same dollar over and over again and not really generating GDP growth.”
“We have to understand that Cleveland's foundation is still an industrial base; its city itself has a strong connection to football and its industrial history whether it's steel or mining or iron ore from the cliffs standpoint.”
“Somebody has to create energy and jobs and that job isn't always from a service perspective it is from actually making things from the earth.”
“This crisis has originated from the interventionist practices and policies of huge steel players like China although not them exclusively which has forced our industry and markets to become flooded with dumped and subsidized imports.”
“It is incumbent upon the United States particularly the USTR in the Commerce Department to immediately strengthen our enforcement of anti-dumping and countervailing Duty laws to protect our jobs and communities and to work with other countries to stop and fix this current destructive situation.”
“The global crisis of Steel over capacity is threatening our company just as it is threatening other segments of the US steel industry as we are observing the pricing and profitability of the entire domestic supply chain are all in danger.”
“China must now export two to three times the total U.S. consumption every single year. I ask you where can that steel go in the world if not here as it does even today despite assurances by the Chinese government.”
“China refuses to enforce its environmental regulations destroying our planet nor does it enforce international safety standards which is killing their own citizens.”
“The overcapacity crisis has fueled an unprecedented surge of dumped subsidized and unfairly traded steel. This crisis is caused by foreign governments like China who seek to do us harm. It is the direct result of subsidies, a disregard for environmental regulation, currency manipulation, a lack of safety enforcement an...”
“One might even contemplate that this might be strategically designed to weaken our military and our ability to provide security to our shores.”
“The United States must assert its ability to both enforce its trade laws and coordinate with other fair-minded nations to immediately stop this destructive situation.”
Michael Siegal, chairman and CEO at Olympic Steel Inc., shares his thoughts on the Cleveland economy and spells out his keys ...
USTR/DOC Steel Hearing - April 12th, 2016.
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