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106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 975

To provide for a reduction in the volume of steel imports, and to establish

a steel import notification and monitoring program.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 4, 1999

Mr. VISCLOSKY (for himself, Mr. QUINN, Mr. TRAFICANT, Mr. NEY, Mr.

KUCINICH, Mr. ENGLISH, Mr. MURTHA, Mr. ADERHOLT, Mr. KLINK, Mr.

REGULA, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. WELLER, Mr. GEPHARDT, Mr. GEKAS, Mr.

BONIOR, Mr. STRICKLAND, Mr. GANSKE, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. FRANKS of

New Jersey, Mr. COYNE, Mr. BERRY, Mr. PETERSON of Pennsylvania,

Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. GOODLING, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. MCCARTHY of Missouri, Mr. GILLMOR, Mr. WISE, Mr. EHRLICH, Mr. MOAKLEY, Mr. MOLLOHAN, Mr. RAHALL, Mr. DOYLE, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr.

MATSUI, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. EVANS, Mr. BLAGOJEVICH, Mr. SANDLIN,

Mr. HOLDEN, Mr. ROEMER, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. BRADY of

Pennsylvania, Ms. MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. PASCRELL, Mr. ANDREWS, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. HALL of Texas, Mr.

RODRIGUEZ, Mr. STUPAK, Mr. CRAMER, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. MEEKS of

New York, Mr. LARSON, MR. BOUCHER, Mr. BROWN of Ohio, Mr.

MALONEY of Connecticut, Mr. OLVER, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms.

STABENOW, Mr. MASCARA, Mr. PASTOR, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr.

HILLIARD, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Ms. HOOLEY of Oregon, Mr.

BOSWELL, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. DELAHUNT, Ms.

SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. FILNER, Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr.

BRYANT, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. MCNULTY,

Mr. BORSKI, Mr. KLECZKA, Mr. FORBES, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SAWYER,

and Mr. CANNON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To provide for a reduction in the volume of steel imports,
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and to establish a steel import notification and monitoring program.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. REDUCTION IN VOLUME OF STEEL IMPORTS.

4 (a) REDUCTION.—Notwithstanding any other provi5 sion of law, within 60 days after the date of the enactment

6 of this Act, the President shall take the necessary steps,

7 by imposing quotas, tariff surcharges, negotiated enforce8 able voluntary export restraint agreements, or otherwise,

9 to ensure that the volume of steel products imported into

10 the United States during any month does not exceed the

11 average volume of steel products that was imported

12 monthly into the United States during the 36-month pe13 riod preceding July 1997.

14 (b) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.—Within 60 days

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary

16 of the Treasury, through the United States Customs Serv17 ice, and the Secretary of Commerce shall implement a pro18 gram for administering and enforcing the restraints on

19 imports under subsection (a). The Customs Service is au20 thorized to refuse entry into the customs territory of the

21 United States of any steel products that exceed the allow22 able levels of imports of such products.

23 (c) APPLICABILITY.—
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1 (1) CATEGORIES.—This section shall apply to

2 the following categories of steel products: semi3 finished, plates, sheets and strips, wire rods, wire

4 and wire products, rail type products, bars, struc5 tural shapes and units, pipes and tubes, iron ore,

6 and coke products.

7 (2) VOLUME.—Volume of steel products for

8 purposes of this section shall be determined on the

9 basis of tonnage of such products.

10 (d) EXPIRATION.—This section shall expire at the

11 end of the 3-year period beginning 60 days after the date

12 of the enactment of this Act.

13 SEC. 2. STEEL IMPORT NOTIFICATION AND MONITORING

14 PROGRAM.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the

16 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Commerce,

17 in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, shall

18 establish and implement a steel import notification and

19 monitoring program. The program shall include a require20 ment that any person importing a product classified under

21 chapter 72 or 73 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of

22 the United States obtain an import notification certificate

23 before such products are entered into the United States.

24 (b) STEEL IMPORT NOTIFICATION CERTIFICATES.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to obtain a steel

2 import notification certificate, an importer shall sub3 mit to the Secretary of Commerce an application

4 containing—

5 (A) the importer’s name and address;

6 (B) the name and address of the supplier

7 of the goods to be imported;

8 (C) the name and address of the producer

9 of the goods to be imported;

10 (D) the country of origin of the goods;

11 (E) the country from which the goods are

12 to be imported;

13 (F) the United States Customs port of

14 entry where the goods will be entered;

15 (G) the expected date of entry of the goods

16 into the United States;

17 (H) a description of the goods, including

18 the classification of such goods under the Har19 monized Tariff Schedule of the United States;

20 (I) the quantity (in kilograms and net

21 tons) of the goods to be imported;

22 (J) the cost insurance freight (CIF) and

23 free alongside ship (FAS) values of the goods to

24 be entered;
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1 (K) whether the goods are being entered

2 for consumption or for entry into a bonded

3 warehouse or foreign trade zone;

4 (L) a certification that the information

5 furnished in the certificate application is cor6 rect; and

7 (M) any other information the Secretary of

8 Commerce determines to be necessary and ap9 propriate.

10 (2) ENTRY INTO CUSTOMS TERRITORY.—In the

11 case of merchandise classified under chapter 72 or

12 73 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United

13 States that is initially entered into a bonded ware14 house or foreign trade zone, a steel import notifica15 tion certificate shall be required before the merchan16 dise is entered into the customs territory of the

17 United States.

18 (3) ISSUANCE OF STEEL IMPORT NOTIFICATION

19 CERTIFICATE.—The Secretary of Commerce shall

20 issue a steel import notification certificate to any

21 person who files an application that meets the re22 quirements of this section. Such certificate shall be

23 valid for a period of 30 days from the date of

24 issuance.

25 (c) STATISTICAL INFORMATION.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.— The Secretary of Commerce

2 shall compile and publish on a weekly basis informa3 tion described in paragraph (2).

4 (2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—Information

5 described in this paragraph means information ob6 tained from steel import notification certificate ap7 plications concerning steel imported into the United

8 States and includes with respect to such imports the

9 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States

10 classification (to the tenth digit), the country of ori11 gin, the port of entry, quantity, value of steel im12 ported, and whether the imports are entered for con13 sumption or are entered into a bonded warehouse or

14 foreign trade zone. Such information shall also be

15 compiled in aggregate form and made publicly avail16 able by the Secretary of Commerce on a weekly basis

17 by public posting through an Internet website. The

18 information provided under this section shall be in

19 addition to any information otherwise required by

20 law.

21 (d) FEES.—The Secretary of Commerce may pre22 scribe reasonable fees and charges to defray the costs of

23 carrying out the provisions of this section, including a fee

24 for issuing a certificate under this section.
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1 (e) SINGLE PRODUCER AND EXPORTER COUN2 TRIES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the

3 Secretary of Commerce shall make publicly available all

4 information required to be released pursuant to subsection

5 (c), including information obtained regarding imports

6 from a foreign producer or exporter that is the only pro7 ducer or exporter of goods subject to this section from a

8 foreign country.

9 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Commerce may

10 prescribe such rules and regulations relating to the steel

11 import notification and monitoring program as may be

12 necessary to carry the provisions of this section.

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