U.S. Rep. Pete
Visclosky, D-1st, has offered an amendment to the Trade Promotion Authority
legislation which would ensure that the U.S. Department of Commerce has the
necessary information to make “better decisions” in trade cases.
That amendment
would also bring up to date the definition of “material injury,” so that
trade cases can be decided more quickly, before “American jobs are
outsourced,” according to a statement released today by Visclosky’s office.
The amendment would
do the following:
* Strengthen and
improve anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws.
* Establish a means
to petition Customs and Border Protection to take action in a timely manner
to combat the evasion of anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders.
* Enhance the
Department of Commerce’s ability to select appropriate facts when a foreign
party fails to cooperate with an unfair trade investigation.
* Exclude the
domestic steel industry’s profitability and its productivity from those
reasons why the International Trade Commission that the International Trade
Commission (ITC) might deny relief.
* Clarify those
factors which the ITC should consider in making a determination of material
injury.
* And decrease the
time it takes the ITC to reach a determination.
“By the time
American companies win a trade case, the American jobs have already been
shipped overseas, never to return,” Visclosky said. “We must strengthen our
trade laws so that American workers can compete on a level playing field.”
These provisions
are included in H.R. 2523, the American Trade Enforcement Effectiveness Act,
as well as in a House-approved customs measure and the companion Senate
measure approved on June 12.
Visclosky supported
the House-approved measure, H.R. 644, the Trade Facilitation and Trade
Enforcement Act of 2015. Because the House’s measure differs somewhat from
the Senate’s, it is now subject to a House-Senate conference.
During a Rules
Committee hearing, Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla), moved to order Rep.
Visclosky’s amendment to Trade Promotion Authority. That motion was defeated
by a 3-7 vote.