“This is an area where even the steel workers, as much as they object to (the Trans-Pacific Partnership), would acknowledge we’ve done a lot on this front,” Obama said, speaking to America’s governors during the National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C.

Obama’s comment was in response to a question from Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, who had asked if it was possible for the administration to be aggressive in dealing with unfairly traded Chinese imports without impinging upon its past promises to support free trade.

Obama again said that there will be tough and firm enforcement of existing trade laws.

“What is important is that we don’t get confused by thinking that we should close off trade as an enforcement tool, because that is not possible. What is possible is making sure that everybody is playing on a level playing field and that people are operating fairly,” Obama said.

He said China recognizes that an export-driven economic growth model is unsustainable, but it’s going to take the country time to transition.

“It’s tempting for them to solve short-term problems by just dumping a bunch of state-subsidized goods into the U.S. market. And we’ve been very clear with them about the fact that that’s not going to work,” he said.

Dayton had promised that he would try to rally support from among his peers for more action against low-cost steel imports.

The effort was the latest by officials in Minnesota’s Iron Range to prompt Washington to address the steel import problem, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper.  

According to the newspaper, more than 2,000 workers in the iron ore industry have been laid off since last year — mostly due to a glut of steel in the global market and the slowdown of the Chinese economy.