Mexican Steel Maker Urges North American Leaders to Meet Challenge of 'Improper Economic Conduct of China' at DC Summit

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- In a full-page ad in today's New York Times, the CEO of a major Mexican steel manufacturer urged the three North American leaders to focus on the "harmful, improper economic conduct of China" when they meet today in Washington.

Presidents Biden and Lopez Obrador and Prime Minister Trudeau are resuming the North American Leaders' Summit (nicknamed the Three Amigos Summit), a regular meeting that began in 2005 but was discontinued after the 2016 conclave.

In the ad, Raul Gutierrez, the Chairman of Deacero, a 70-year-old Monterrey-based steel company, now with operations in Mexico and the U.S., urges the leaders "to explore ways to foster and strengthen North American supply chains to face the challenges of China and other countries. Let's substitute neighboring and competitive supply chains for long and fragile ones."

The ad, in the form of an open letter, also states that "a high priority" of the summit "should be to safeguard key industries. For example, Section 232 tariffs and other mechanisms to avoid circumvention on steel and derivatives should remain in effect until the North American manufacturers have recovered sufficient production and employment levels -- in other words, until there is a real solution to global steel excess capacity caused by China and other countries."

Gutierrez notes that his own company is a true USMA business. It has opened "a global trade and corporate affairs office in Washington, the first of its kind by a Mexican company" and that the firm's U.S. operations team "consists of more than 800 employees across the country, with manufacturing plants in Houston and Poplar Bluff, MO, where our company Mid Continent is the largest domestic steel nails manufacturer."

Deacero has an extensive North American supply chain. For example, the company buys scrap metal in the U.S., recycles it, and processes it in its Mexican mills to produce steel that is shipped back to its U.S. facilities to make nails and other wire products.

"I have never been more optimistic about our countries and companies working together to increase growth, jobs, and shared prosperity," said Gutierrez in the open letter.

About Deacero

Deacero is a family-owned company that was started nearly 70 years ago in a small warehouse in Monterrey. We are a fully integrated company with an infrastructure for recycling, processing waste, steel mills, finished product plants and distribution centers.

We currently serve diverse industries and markets with a presence in Mexico and in over 20 countries including the United States, Canada, Guatemala, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Spain and the United Kingdom.

We are more than 8,000 employees operating in 21 Recycling Centers, 3 Steel Mills, 15 Steel Wire Facilities and 1 Research & Development Center.

For more information, visit www.deacero.com

Contact Elizabeth Heaton, [email protected], 202-445-9858

SOURCE Deacero