II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1008

To modify the standards for responding to import surges under section

201 of the Trade Act of 1974, to establish mechanisms for import

monitoring and the prevention of circumvention of United States trade

laws, and to strengthen the enforcement of United States trade remedy

laws.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 11, 1999

Mr. BAUCUS (for himself and Mr. LEVIN) introduced the following bill; which

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To modify the standards for responding to import surges

under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974, to establish

mechanisms for import monitoring and the prevention

of circumvention of United States trade laws, and to

strengthen the enforcement of United States trade remedy laws.

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Import Surge Relief

5 Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 1 OF TITLE II OF THE

2 TRADE ACT OF 1974.

3 (a) TEST FOR POSITIVE ADJUSTMENTS TO IMPORT

4 COMPETITION.—Section 201(a) of the Trade Act of 1974

5 (19 U.S.C. 2251(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘be a sub6 stantial cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof,’’ and

7 inserting ‘‘cause or threaten to cause serious injury’’.

8 (b) INVESTIGATIONS AND DETERMINATIONS.—Sec9 tion 202 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2252) is

10 amended—

11 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘be a

12 substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat

13 thereof,’’ and inserting ‘‘cause or threaten to cause

14 serious injury’’;

15 (2) by amending subsection (b)(1)(B) to read

16 as follows:

17 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this section, the term

18 ‘cause’ refers to a cause that contributes signifi19 cantly to serious injury, or the threat thereof, to the

20 domestic industry but need not be equal to or great21 er than any other cause.’’;

22 (3) in subsection (c)—

23 (A) by amending paragraph (1)(A) to read

24 as follows:

25 ‘‘(A) with respect to serious injury—
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1 ‘‘(i) change in the level of sales, pro2 duction, productivity, capacity utilization,

3 profits and losses, and employment,

4 ‘‘(ii) the significant idling of produc5 tive facilities in the domestic industry,

6 ‘‘(iii) the inability of a significant

7 number of firms to carry out domestic pro8 duction operations at a reasonable level of

9 profit, and

10 ‘‘(iv) significant unemployment or

11 underemployment within the domestic in12 dustry;’’;

13 (B) in paragraph (1)(B)—

14 (i) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘; and’’

15 and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and

16 (ii) by inserting after clause (iii) the

17 following:

18 ‘‘(iv) foreign production capacity, for19 eign inventories, the level of demand in

20 third country markets, and the availability

21 of other export markets to absorb any ad22 ditional exports; and’’;

23 (C) by amending paragraph (1)(C) to read

24 as follows:

25 ‘‘(C) with respect to cause—
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1 ‘‘(i) the rate, amount, and timing of

2 the increase in imports of the product con3 cerned in absolute and relative terms, in4 cluding whether there has been a substan5 tial increase in imports over a short period

6 of time, and

7 ‘‘(ii) the share of the domestic market

8 taken by increased imports.’’;

9 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (3)

10 through (6) as paragraphs (6) through (9), re11 spectively;

12 (E) by striking paragraph (2) and insert13 ing the following:

14 ‘‘(2) In making determinations under para15 graph (1) (A) and (B), if domestic producers inter16 nally transfer significant production of the article

17 like or directly competitive with the imported article

18 for the production of a downstream article and sell

19 significant production of the article like or directly

20 competitive with the imported article in the mer21 chant market, and the Commission finds that—

22 ‘‘(A) the article like or directly competitive

23 with the imported article produced that is inter24 nally transferred for processing into that down25 stream article does not enter the merchant mar-
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1 ket for the article like or directly competitive

2 with the imported article,

3 ‘‘(B) the article like or directly competitive

4 with the imported article is the predominant

5 material input in the production of that down6 stream article, and

7 ‘‘(C) the production of the article like or

8 directly competitive with the imported article

9 sold in the merchant market is not generally

10 used in the production of the downstream arti11 cle,

12 then the Commission, in determining market share

13 and the factors affecting financial performance set

14 forth in paragraph (1) (A) and (B), shall focus pri15 marily on the merchant market for the article like

16 or directly competitive with the imported article.

17 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (2), the terms

18 ‘internally transfer’, ‘downstream article’, and ‘mer19 chant market’ have the same meanings as those

20 terms have when used in section 771(7)(C)(iv) of the

21 Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(7)(C)(iv)).

22 ‘‘(4) In making determinations under sub23 section (b), the Commission shall—

24 ‘‘(A) consider the condition of the domestic

25 industry over the course of the relevant busi-
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1 ness cycle, but may not aggregate the causes of

2 declining demand associated with a recession or

3 economic downturn in the United States econ4 omy into a single cause of serious injury or

5 threat of injury; and

6 ‘‘(B) examine factors other than imports

7 which may cause or threaten to cause serious

8 injury to the domestic industry.

9 The Commission shall include the results of its ex10 amination under subparagraph (B) in the report

11 submitted by the Commission to the President under

12 subsection (e).

13 ‘‘(5) In making determinations under sub14 section (b), the Commission shall consider whether

15 any change in the volume of imports that has oc16 curred since a petition under subsection (a) was filed

17 or a request under subsection (b) was made is re18 lated to the pendency of the investigation, and if so,

19 the Commission may reduce the weight accorded to

20 the data for the period after the petition under sub21 section (a) was filed or the request under subsection

22 (b) was made in making its determination of serious

23 injury, or the threat thereof.’’; and

24 (F) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated—
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1 (i) by striking ‘‘and (B)’’ and insert2 ing ‘‘, (B), and (C)’’; and

3 (ii) by striking ‘‘be a substantial cause

4 of serious injury, or the threat thereof,’’

5 and inserting ‘‘cause or threaten to cause

6 serious injury’’;

7 (4) in subsection (d)—

8 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), by striking

9 ‘‘be, or likely to be a substantial cause of seri10 ous injury, or the threat thereof,’’ and inserting

11 ‘‘cause, or be likely to cause, or threaten to

12 cause, or be likely to threaten to cause, serious

13 injury’’;

14 (B) in paragraph (1)(C), in the matter fol15 lowing clause (ii), by striking ‘‘a substantial

16 cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof,’’

17 and inserting ‘‘causing or threatening to cause

18 serious injury’’;

19 (C) by amending paragraph (2)(A) to read

20 as follows:

21 ‘‘(2)(A) When a petition filed under subsection

22 (a) or a request filed under subsection (b) alleges

23 that critical circumstances exist and requests that

24 provisional relief be provided under this subsection

25 with respect to imports of the article identified in
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1 the petition or request, the Commission shall, not

2 later than 45 days after the petition or request is

3 filed, determine, on the basis of available informa4 tion, whether—

5 ‘‘(i) there is clear evidence that increased

6 imports (either actual or relative to domestic

7 production) of the article are causing or threat8 ening to cause serious injury to the domestic in9 dustry producing an article like or directly com10 petitive with the imported article; and

11 ‘‘(ii) delay in taking action under this

12 chapter would cause damage to that industry

13 that would be difficult to repair.

14 In making the determination under clause (ii), the

15 Commission should consider, among other factors

16 that it considers relevant, the timing and volume of

17 the imports, including whether there has been a sub18 stantial increase in imports over a short period of

19 time, and any other circumstances indicating that

20 delay in taking action under this chapter would

21 cause damage to the industry that would be difficult

22 to repair.’’; and

23 (D) in paragraph (2)(D), by striking ‘‘30’’

24 and inserting ‘‘20’’.

25 (c) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATIONS.—
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1 (1) ACTION BY PRESIDENT.—Section 203(a) of

2 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(a)) is

3 amended—

4 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘and

5 provide greater economic and social benefits

6 than costs’’ and inserting ‘‘and will not have an

7 adverse impact on the United States substan8 tially out of proportion to the benefits of such

9 action’’;

10 (B) in paragraph (2)(F), by striking the

11 semicolon at the end of clause (iii) and insert12 ing a comma;

13 (C) in paragraph (2)(F), by inserting im14 mediately after clause (iii) the following:

15 ‘‘except that the President shall give substan16 tially greater weight to the factors set out in

17 clause (i) than to those set out in clauses (ii)

18 and (iii);’’; and

19 (D) by amending paragraph (2)(I) to read

20 as follows:

21 ‘‘(I) the potential for harm to the national

22 security of the United States; and’’.

23 (2) IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION REC24 OMMENDED BY COMMISSION.—
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1 (A) JOINT RESOLUTION.—Section 203(c)

2 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(c))

3 is amended by striking ‘‘90’’ and inserting

4 ‘‘60’’.

5 (B) COMPUTATION OF TIME.—Section

6 152(c)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.

7 2192(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘not count8 ing any day which is excluded under section

9 154(b),’’ and inserting ‘‘counting all calendar

10 days in the case of a resolution described in

11 subsection (a)(1)(A), and not counting any day

12 which is excluded under section 154(b) in the

13 case of a resolution described in subsection (a)

14 (1)(B) or (2),’’.

15 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

16 (1) Section 203(e)(6)(B) of the Trade Act of

17 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(e)(6)(B)) is amended by

18 striking ‘‘substantially’’.

19 (2) Section 264(c) of the Trade Act of 1974

20 (19 U.S.C. 2354(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘a sub21 stantial cause of serious injury or threat thereof’’

22 and inserting ‘‘causing or threatening to cause seri23 ous injury’’.

24 (3) Section 154(b) of the Trade Act of 1974

25 (19 U.S.C. 2194(b)) is amended by striking the
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1 matter that precedes paragraph (1) and inserting

2 the following:

3 ‘‘(b) The 90-day period referred to in section

4 407(c)(2) shall be computed by excluding—’’.

5 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 332 OF THE TARIFF ACT

6 OF 1930.

7 Section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.

8 1332) is amended by adding at the end the following:

9 ‘‘(h) REQUEST FOR MONITORING.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any entity, including a

11 trade association, firm, certified or recognized union,

12 or group of workers, which is representative of a do13 mestic industry that produces an article that is like

14 or directly competitive with an imported article, may

15 file a request with the President pursuant to para16 graph (2) for the monitoring of imports of such arti17 cle under subsection (g).

18 ‘‘(2) TIME FOR PRESIDENTIAL ACTION.—If the

19 request filed under paragraph (1) alleges that an ar20 ticle is being imported into the United States in

21 such increased quantities as to cause serious injury,

22 or threat thereof, to a domestic industry, the Presi23 dent, within 45 days after receiving the request,

24 shall determine if monitoring is appropriate.
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1 ‘‘(3) MONITORING BY COMMISSION.—If the de2 termination under paragraph (2) is affirmative, the

3 President shall request, under subsection (g), that

4 the Commission monitor and investigate the imports

5 concerned for a period not to exceed 2 years.’’.

6 SEC. 4. EARLY RELEASE OF IMPORT DATA.

7 In order to facilitate the early identification of poten8 tially disruptive import surges, the Director of the Office

9 of Management and Budget may grant an exception to

10 the publication dates established for the release of data

11 on United States international trade in goods and services

12 in order to permit public access to preliminary inter13 national trade import data, if the Director notifies Con14 gress of the early release of the data.

15 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPORT MONITORING PRO16 GRAM.

17 Section 301 of the Customs Procedural Reform and

18 Simplification Act of 1978 (19 U.S.C. 2075) is amended

19 by adding at the end the following:

20 ‘‘(h) STEEL AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IMPORT

21 MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT SUPPORT PROGRAM.—

22 There is established a Steel and Agricultural Import Moni23 toring and Enforcement Program—

24 ‘‘(1) to promote and defend policy with respect

25 to United States import safeguards and counter-
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1 vailing or antidumping duty actions if challenged in

2 the World Trade Organization; and

3 ‘‘(2) to identify foreign trade-distorting meas4 ures and develop policies and responsive actions to

5 address them.’’.

6 SEC. 6. HTS SUFFIX FOR MERCHANDISE SUBJECT TO ANTI7 DUMPING OR COUNTERVAILING DUTY

8 ORDER.

9 Section 484(f) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.

10 1484(f)) is amended—

11 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting

12 ‘‘(1) The Secretary’’; and

13 (2) by adding at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of

15 Commerce, and the International Trade Commission shall

16 establish a suffix to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of

17 the United States for merchandise that is subject to coun18 tervailing duty orders or antidumping duty orders under

19 title VII of this Act, or subject to actions by the President

20 under chapter 1 of title II, or section 406, of the Trade

21 Act of 1974.’’.

22 SEC. 7. PRODUCT MONITORING.

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall

24 monitor imports on a monthly basis for import surges and

25 potential unfair trade through the year 2000. Products to
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1 be monitored shall be determined by the Secretary of Com2 merce based on the import surge data compiled by the

3 Secretary, but shall include, at a minimum, steel products,

4 agricultural products, and other import-sensitive products

5 identified by United States industries or entities rep6 resentative of a United States industry that meet the nec7 essary criteria established by the Secretary. In deter8 mining whether to monitor imports of a specific product,

9 the Secretary shall consider the percentage increase in im10 ports, the volume or value of imports, as appropriate, the

11 level of import penetration, and any other factors the Sec12 retary considers necessary.

13 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Within 30 days

14 after the release of the official December import statistics

15 for calendar year 1999 and for calendar year 2000, the

16 Secretary of Commerce shall submit a report to Congress

17 summarizing the monitoring activities under this section

18 for that calendar year and identifying products to be mon19 itored in the next calendar year. In addition, in the report

20 to Congress covering calendar year 1999, the Secretary

21 of Commerce shall determine whether trade conditions

22 during the calendar year 1999 merit extending the import

23 monitoring program beyond the program’s scheduled expi24 ration at the end of calendar year 2000.
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1 SEC. 8. ITC INVESTIGATION OF ANTICOMPETITIVE PRAC2 TICES IN INTERNATIONAL STEEL AND AGRI3 CULTURAL PRODUCTS TRADE.

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

5 date of enactment of this Act, the United States Inter6 national Trade Commission shall commence an investiga7 tion under section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930—

8 (1) to collect information on anticompetitive

9 practices in the international trade of steel and agri10 cultural products;

11 (2) to assess the adverse effects of such prac12 tices on United States producers, workers, and con13 sumers;

14 (3) to collect information on import licensing

15 arrangements of other members of the World Trade

16 Organization; and

17 (4) to report to the Committees on Ways and

18 Means and Agriculture of the House of Representa19 tives, the Committees on Finance and Agriculture,

20 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, and the

21 United States Trade Representative on its findings

22 within 1 year after the date of enactment of this

23 Act.

24 (b) INCLUSION IN NATIONAL TRADE ESTIMATE RE25 PORT.—The United States Trade Representative shall in26 clude the findings of the International Trade Commission
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1 under subsection (a) in a special section of the report sub2 mitted under section 181(b) of the Trade Act of 1974

3 after the 1-year period beginning on the date of enactment

4 of this Act. In that section, the Trade Representative shall

5 identify and explain any anticompetitive practices in the

6 international trade of steel and agricultural products,

7 evaluate the compatibility of import licensing programs

8 with obligations under the World Trade Organization, and

9 propose steps to be taken to address anticompetitive prac10 tices and practices inconsistent with the World Trade Or11 ganization.

12 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘‘anti13 competitive practices in the international trade of steel

14 and agricultural products’’ means—

15 (1) monopolies or cartels, whether or not sanc16 tioned by government authorities, which restrict the

17 output, delivery, or pricing of steel products or agri18 cultural products;

19 (2) agreements between steel producers (or ag20 ricultural products producers), whether or not sanc21 tioned by government authorities, to restrict the flow

22 of steel products (or agricultural products) or limit

23 price competition in the international trade of steel

24 or agricultural products; and
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1 (3) coercion or threats by manufacturers to dis2 tributors or consumers which have the effect of re3 stricting imports of steel or agricultural products.

Æ