RL32371
Trade Remedies: A Primer
July 30, 2008
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Summary
The United States and many of its trading partners use laws known as trade remedies to mitigate the adverse impact of various trade practices on domestic industries and workers. U.S. antidumping (AD) laws (19 U.S.C. � 1673 et seq.) authorize the imposition of duties if (1) the International Trade Administration (ITA) of the Department of Commerce determines that foreign merchandise is being, or likely to be sold in the United States at less than fair value, and (2) the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) determines that an industry in the United States is materially injured or threatened with material injury, or that the establishment of an industry is materially retarded, due to imports of that merchandise. A similar statute (19 U.S.C. � 1671 et seq.) authorizes the imposition of countervailing duties (CVD) if the ITA finds that the government of a country or any public entity has provided a subsidy on the manufacture, production, or export of the merchandise, and the ITC determines injury. U.S. safeguard laws (19 U.S.C. � 2251 et seq.) authorize the President to provide import relief from injurious surges of imports resulting from fairly competitive trade from all countries. Other safeguard laws authorize relief for import surges from communist countries (19 U.S.C. � 2436) and from China (19 U.S.C. � 2451). In each case, the ITC conducts an investigation, forwards recommendations to the President, and the President may act on the recommendation, modify it, or do nothing. In the 110th Congress, legislation has been introduced to amend trade remedy statutes seeking to strengthen U.S. antidumping, countervailing, and safeguard statutes; to address issues regarding the applicability of these laws to China and other nonmarket economy countries; and to expand the application of Trade Adjustment Assistance to workers adversely affected by trade that results in the imposition of AD, CVD, or safeguard measures. In addition, bills seeking to give consuming industries that use products subject to AD or CVD proceedings a larger role as interested parties in trade remedy proceedings have also been introduced. On the World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations front, work continues in the Negotiating Committee on Rules on suggested revisions to the Antidumping and Subsidies and Countervailing Measures Agreements should an agreement be reached in the Doha Development Round (DDA). This report explains, first, U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty statutes and investigations. Second, it describes safeguard statutes and investigative procedures. Third, it briefly presents trade-remedy related legislation in the 110th Congress. Finally, the appendix provides a brief chart outlining U.S. trade remedy statutes, major actors, and the effects of these laws. This report will be updated as events warrant.
