Subsidies

Groups Step Up Pressure On English-Davis

A group of sixty-one business associations and companies has stepped up its fight against a bill introduced by Reps. Artur Davis (D-AL) and Phil English (R-PA) which it believes could be marked up in the House Ways and Means Committee in a matter of weeks. The June 8 letter urges Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Ranking Member Jim McCrery (R-LA) to change three provisions in H.R. 1229 to ensure they comply with U.S. obligations in the World Trade Organization and...

Senate Authorization Bill Removes House Subsidies Language

The Senate Armed Services Committee in late May marked up a version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that did not include language prohibiting the Defense Department from procuring technology or services from companies based in countries involved in WTO consultations with the U.S. over illegal subsidies. The House version of the National Defense Authorization bill for fiscal year 2008, H.R. 1585, would prevent DoD from sourcing any goods or services from a country that is currently involved in...

House Defense Bill Would Prohibit China Procurement Due To Subsidies

The National Defense Authorization bill for fiscal year 2008, H.R. 1585, would prevent the Department of Defense from sourcing any goods or services from a country that is currently involved in consultations with the U.S. at the WTO over illegal subsidies. This language, inserted by House Armed Services Committee Ranking Member Duncan Hunter, is identical to language from previous authorization bills that was killed in a House-Senate conference. If approved, the language would apply to Chinese companies, as the U.S...

Importers Ask U.S. Not To Double Count Domestic Subsidies In Paper Case

More than 50 companies, importer associations and others asked the Commerce Department on May 15 to avoid subjecting Chinese domestic subsidies to both antidumping and countervailing duties in an ongoing investigation on imports of Chinese glossy paper. Legal experts reached this week said the request appears to go beyond World Trade Organization rules, which only say explicitly that WTO members cannot subject an export subsidy to simultaneous antidumping and countervailing duties. Several domestic industry associations have argued that the WTO's...

U.S. Re-Files WTO Subsidies Case Against China To Reflect New Law

The U.S. Trade Representative's office on April 27 re-filed its request for WTO consultations over Chinese subsidies in order to capture possible subsidies in a new Chinese law that was approved in March, and to remove a subsidy from the challenge that China agreed to eliminate in February. USTR's new consultation request against China will effectively start the clock over in the case, as it will require the U.S. and China to consult again over the slightly changed details. Because...

CVD-NME Markup Expected Sometime After May 9 Currency Hearing

A House markup of legislation that would require the Commerce Department to apply countervailing duty (CVD) law to non-market economies is expected shortly after three subcommittees hold a joint hearing on May 9 dealing with foreign exchange regimes. A markup of the CVD bill at the House Ways and Means Committee was originally predicted for sometime in April, but was delayed and is now thought to be a priority for May, according to informed sources. Congressional sources and others this...

NCTO Actively Talking To Lawyers About CVD Cases Against China

The National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) is having active discussions with lawyers about the possibility of filing its own countervailing duty case against imports of Chinese apparel. According to informed sources, NCTO believes it is possible that a CVD case on apparel might lead to even higher margins than the 10 to 20 percent Commerce found in a preliminary decision against imports of Chinese glossy paper on March 30. These sources added that the new concept of applying CVD...

IIE Scholar Recommends Changes To CVD-Currency Bill

Congress should add four "safety valves" to pending legislation that would allow imports from countries with misaligned currencies to be subject to countervailing duties, including one that would allow the law to quickly be withdrawn if it is found to violate WTO rules, according to Gary Hufbauer, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Speaking in Washington last week, Hufbauer said adding the U.S. could face an uphill battle at the WTO if the bill, H.R. 782, became...

China's Options For Fighting CVD Case May Include WTO, CIT Cases

China's lawyer in the countervailing duty case against U.S. imports of Chinese glossy paper said this week that China could have the option of challenging the CVD case in the World Trade Organization, or re-filing a suit against the U.S. at the Court of International Trade. Dan Porter, a partner at Vinson and Elkins who represents China in the CVD case, said in his opinion there are several problems with the Commerce Department's March 30 preliminary decision to apply CVD...

English Predicts House Passage Of CVD-NME Bill

Rep. Phil English (R-PA), the co-sponsor of legislation that would require countervailing duty law to be applied to non-market economies like China, predicted this week that his bill would pass the House, even as he acknowledged that some parts of the bill will likely be seen as controversial. In an April 17 interview with Inside US-China Trade, English cited language in the bill, H.R. 1229, that some say appears to require Commerce to use third-country data in CVD cases against...

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