Subsidies

Levin Wants CVD-NME Bill On House Floor In Next Few Months

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander Levin (D-MI) said on Feb. 15 that he hopes to complete work on a bill requiring the U.S. to consider countervailing duty cases against non-market economies (NMEs) like China in the coming weeks, and wants this bill to be considered on the House floor as early as March or April. At a hearing of his subcommittee, Levin said the basis of CVD/NME legislation would be a bill put forward by Reps. Artur...

English Pushes Schwab For Further Scrutiny Of Chinese Subsidies

Rep. Phil English (R-PA) last week pressed the Bush Administration to broaden its effort to attack Chinese steel subsidies in the WTO, and said the current U.S. case against nine Chinese subsidies does not do enough to attack China's policy of supporting its steel industry. In a Feb. 14 Ways and Means Committee hearing, English asked U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab whether USTR will expand the case to include preferential loan rates from state-owned banks to Chinese steel producers, and...

Illegal Subsidies Clarified In WTO Case Against China

The U.S. challenge against illegal Chinese export subsidies in the WTO focuses on numerous tax cuts for foreign invested enterprises from China's Enterprise Income Tax, as well as preferential loan policies and exemptions from paying into funds designed to help Chinese workers. The details of six Chinese export subsidies were made clear in a series of Chinese rules and regulations that were obtained by Inside US-China Trade this week, although they have not been released by the U.S. Trade Representative's...

Steel Industry Supports Rockefeller Answer To China Subsidies

Several associations representing U.S. steel producers in late January pledged their support for a bill introduced by Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV) as their top choice for dealing with Chinese steel subsidies that lead to overcapacity in China and threaten U.S. steel companies. In a Jan. 30 letter to Rockefeller, five steel groups said Rockefeller's bill would help strengthen U.S. trade remedy laws and allow the U.S. to fight Chinese subsidies by allowing countervailing duties against non-market economies (NMEs) like China...

U.S. WTO Challenge Against China Focuses On Prohibited Subsidies

The U.S. request for World Trade Organization consultations against China's subsidies programs focuses on two sets of subsidies that WTO rules clearly prohibit: those that are contingent upon export, and those that are granted when companies use Chinese made goods over foreign goods. The U.S. Trade Representative's office on Feb. 5 released its formal request for WTO consultations under the Dispute Settlement Understanding, and this request cited nine separate programs that USTR believes violate China's commitment to eliminate these subsidies...

Levin Predicts CVD-NME Bill, Second Bill On Other Issues

House Ways and Means Trade Subcommittee Chairman Sander Levin (D-MI) said on Jan. 24 that he and other members are likely in the near future to introduce legislation that would require the U.S. to apply countervailing duty law to non-market economies (NMEs) such as China, and said his hope is that this bill could be passed with bipartisan support. In addition, Levin said there would be a second piece of legislation that would likely pick up elements of two Democratic...

U.S., China Make Final Arguments In CIT Case On CVD Application

The Department of Commerce and Ohio-based paper company NewPage argued in a Jan. 25 hearing at the Court of International Trade that the court should reject a request by China for an injunction against a countervailing duty (CVD) investigation into imports of Chinese coated free sheet paper. Last week's hearing, which also heard continuing arguments from China in favor of the injunction, was expected to be followed by a CIT decision as early as today (Jan. 31) on whether to...

House, Senate Members Ask Commerce To Apply CVDs Against China

Thirty-two members of the House and nine U.S. senators last week called on the Commerce Department to agree to apply U.S. countervailing duty (CVD) law against non-market economies (NMEs) such as China. In separate letters to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, the members said there is nothing in U.S. law that would stop Commerce from imposing CVD duties against NMEs, and said failure to make this change would put U.S. companies at further risk of economic harm due to China's subsidies...

NewPage Counters China's Arguments In CIT Against CVD Case

U.S. paper producer NewPage Inc. on Jan. 19 filed a rebuttal in the Court of International Trade (CIT) against arguments from the Chinese government that the U.S. should stop a controversial countervailing duty (CVD) investigation against Chinese paper imports. The rebuttal argument was expected to be followed by a Jan. 23 reply from the Chinese government, after which the CIT will hold a hearing on the case on Jan. 25. The CIT case is centered around China's request for a...

CIT Sets Expedited Schedule For Preliminary Injunction Request In China CVD Case

U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Gregory Carman on Jan. 10 denied the Chinese government's motion for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the Commerce Department from continuing a countervailing duty investigation on imports of coated free sheet paper (CFS). However, he did agree to an expedited hearing schedule for China's request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the CVD case from moving forward. Carman ordered the Commerce Department and the petitioner, NewPage Corporation of Ohio, to...

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