I
105TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 2509
To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to eliminate disincentives to fair trade
conditions.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
SEPTEMBER 18, 1997
Mr. REGULA of Ohio (for himself, Mr. NEY, Mrs. THURMAN, Mrs. EMERSON,
and Mr. ENGLISH) introduced the following bill; which was referred to
the Committee on Ways and Means
A BILL
To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to eliminate disincentives
to fair trade conditions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Continued Dumping
or Subsidy Offset Act of 1997’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS OF CONGRESS.
The Congress finds that:
(a) Consistent with our WTO rights, injurious
dumping is to be condemned and that actionable
HR 2509 IH
subsidies which cause injury to domestic industries
must be effectively neutralized.
(b) United States unfair trade laws have as
their purpose the restoration of conditions of fair
trade so that jobs and investment that should be in
the United States are not lost through false market
signals.
(c) The continued dumping or subsidization of
imported product after the issuance of antidumping
orders or findings or countervailing duty orders can
frustrate the remedial purpose of the laws by pre-
venting market prices from returning to fair levels.
(d) Where dumping or subsidization continues,
domestic producers will be reluctant to reinvest or
rehire and may be unable to maintain pension and
health care benefits that conditions of fair trade
would permit.
(e) United States trade laws should be
strengthened to see that the remedial purpose is
achieved in fact.
SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE TARIFF ACT OF 1930.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Tariff Act of
1930 is amended by adding section 752:
HR 2509 IH
‘‘SEC. 752. CONTINUED DUMPING OR SUBSIDY OFFSET.
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Whenever continued dumping or
subsidization is found to exist by the administering au-
thority under section 751(a) of this Act or by operation
of law, any duties assessed shall be distributed to the af-
fected domestic producers for qualifying expenditures on
an annual basis. Such disbursement shall be known as the
‘continued dumping or subsidy offset’.
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—As used in this section:
‘‘(1) The term ‘affected domestic producer’
means any manufacturer, producer, or worker rep-
resentative that was a petitioner or interested party
in support of the petition with respect to which an
antidumping duty finding or order or countervailing
duty order has been entered and remains in oper-
ation. Companies or businesses that have ceased the
production of the product covered by the order or
finding or who have been acquired by a company or
business that is related to a company that opposed
the investigation shall not be an affected domestic
producer.
‘‘(2) The term ‘Commissioner’ means the Com-
missioner of the United States Customs Service.
‘‘(3) The term ‘Commission’ means the United
States International Trade Commission.
HR 2509 IH
‘‘(4) The term ‘qualifying expenditure’ means
expenditures incurred since the issuance of the anti-
dumping duty finding or order or countervailing
duty order in any or all of the following categories:
‘‘(i) plant;
‘‘(ii) equipment;
‘‘(iii) R&D;
‘‘(iv) personnel training;
‘‘(v) acquisition of technology;
‘‘(vi) health care benefits to employees paid
for by the employer;
‘‘(vii) pension benefits to employees paid
for by the employer;
‘‘(viii) environmental equipment, training
and/or technology.
‘‘(c) DISBURSEMENT PROCEDURES.—The Commis-
sioner shall prescribe procedures for disbursement of the
continued dumping or subsidies offset required by this sec-
tion provided that disbursement shall occur for monies as-
sessed during one fiscal year of the United States at the
latest within sixty days after the beginning of the next
fiscal year.
‘‘(d) PARTIES ELIGIBLE
FOR DISTRIBUTION
OF
ANTIDUMPING
AND/OR COUNTERVAILING DUTIES AS-
SESSED.—
HR 2509 IH
‘‘(1) The Commission shall forward to the Com-
missioner within sixty days of the effective date of
this section or within sixty days of the issuance of
an antidumping or countervailing duty order after
the effective date of this section a list of petitioners
and those companies that indicate support of the pe-
tition by letter or through questionnaire response.
Where no injury test was required or where the
Commission’s records do not permit an identification
of those in support of a petition the Commission
shall consult with the Department of Commerce to
determine the identity of the petitioner and those
domestic parties who have entered appearances dur-
ing administrative reviews conducted by Commerce
and sought vigorous enforcement of United States
law.
‘‘(2) The Commissioner shall publish in the
Federal Register at least thirty days prior to the is-
suance of payments a notice of intention to distrib-
ute duty assessments, the list of companies eligible
based on the list obtained from the Commission and
shall request a certification from each recipient as to
(a) desire to receive distribution, (b) continued eligi-
bility as an affected domestic producer, and (c) the
qualifying expenditures incurred since the issuance
HR 2509 IH
of the order for which distribution under this section
has not previously been made.
‘‘(3) The Commissioner shall distribute all
funds (including all interest earned) from assess-
ments received in the completed fiscal year to af-
fected domestic producers based on the affirmative
responses to subparagraph (2) on a pro rata basis
based on new and remaining qualifying expenditures.
‘‘(e) SPECIAL ACCOUNTS.—
‘‘(1) Within fourteen days of the effective date
of this provision for outstanding antidumping orders
and findings or for outstanding countervailing duty
orders or within fourteen days of the date an anti-
dumping or countervailing duty order takes effect,
the Commissioner shall establish in the Treasury of
the United States a special account with respect to
that order or finding.
‘‘(2) The Commissioner shall have deposited
into the special accounts all antidumping or counter-
vailing duties, including interest on such duties, that
are assessed under the antidumping order or finding
or the countervailing duty order with respect to
which the account was established since the effective
date of this section.