U.S. GOVERNMENT: STEEL MEETINGS IN PARIS MAKE PROGRESS

U.S. GOVERNMENT: STEEL MEETINGS IN PARIS MAKE PROGRESS    U.S. Commerce Department officials said that a second round of meetings to address the overcapacity of steel on the world market made “meaningful progress.”
   The meeting was held at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris this week. Representatives from about 40 countries attended.
   “One of the goals of President Bush’s steel initiative is to engage in discussions with our trading partners on reducing inefficient excess steelmaking capacity worldwide,” said Commerce Secretary Don Evans. “This is a significant step toward implementing this goal.”
   “We are extremely pleased by the frank assessments the participating countries made regarding excess capacity in their steel industries,” said Grant Aldonas, Commerce’s undersecretary for international trade. “This is, however, just the first step in tackling a problem that has been with us for a long time.”
   The participating countries agreed to meet again in early February, and follow up with another meeting in April.