REGIONAL— Minnesota’s political leaders in Washington are hailing progress in the fight against the illegal imports of steel products in the U.S., which has shuttered steel mills across the country and taconite mines on the Iron Range.

Late last week, President Obama’s administration announced new executive actions intended to slow the influx of illegally dumped foreign steel at U.S. ports. The measures include sending additional inspectors to ports of entry and bringing additional staff on board at the Commerce Department and elsewhere in order to better enforce trade laws.

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said the latest moves will help stem the rising tide of imports, and she urged that customs inspectors take tough action when they find illegal shipments. “If we want to turn around the ship on illegal dumping, we need to literally turn around the ships,” she said. “I think a lot of this illegal dumping has been going on, but now we’re putting people on the front line.”

A total of 38 additional customs inspectors and border patrol will be deployed, using funds previously approved by Congress.

Eighth District Congressman Rick Nolan said the moves come in the wake of sustained pressure from Minnesota’s political leaders. “I am pleased to have the White House working with us to clamp down on trade cheater nations, reverse this crisis and start putting our miners back to work where they belong,” said Nolan. “More than 2,000 Iron Range miners have lost their jobs over the last year as a result of foreign producers dumping low-quality subsidized steel into our domestic marketplace, and the effect on our local businesses and communities has been devastating.”

Gov. Mark Dayton also lauded the actions, saying they were “urgently needed” to prevent further damage to Iron Range workers and communities.

At the same time, President Obama signed additional trade legislation, known as the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act, or HR 644, which provides wide-ranging tools to more aggressively enforce anti-dumping regulations already in law. The new law will give U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials more authority to initiate investigations over whether imports entering the country are compliant with existing trade rules.

Sen. Klobuchar called both recent steps a win for the Iron Range, but added “it’s not really a win until steelworkers are back on the job.”