AGC Asks Cement Committee to Withdraw Complaint

Washington, D.C.-The Associated General Contractors of America has asked the Southern Tier Cement Committee to withdraw its complaint that triggered the current anti-dumping duty on Mexican cement and allow cement supplies to arrive from Mexico free of prohibitively high duties.

"Construction activity is outpacing even last year's record pace, but U.S. cement suppliers cannot keep up with demand," said AGC CEO Stephen E. Sandherr. "If the STCC companies agreed to suspend the anti-dumping duty, Mexican cement could reach Gulf Coast and border states in days, keeping construction projects on track, avoiding unnecessary delays and possible layoffs."

AGC and the Portland Cement Association have already received reports from 28 states and the District of Columbia documenting shortages, allocations and delivery delays, up from 23 states at the end of May. As this year's construction season progresses, AGC fears that shortages are likely to be even more widespread than in the 35 states where the PCA noted shortages or "tight" supplies as of November 2004.

AGC has members in every state, including general contractors, specialty and subcontractors, and suppliers of construction goods and services. They perform all types of nonresidential and multi-family construction projects, nearly all of which use cement at some stage and are therefore vulnerable to shortages.