Bal Harbour, Fla.
The United States in 2003 once again ran a trade deficit at historic levels. Despite the decline of our manufacturing base and the accelerating offshoring and outsourcing of our jobs, our trading partners continue to engage in predatory trade practices to fuel their export-led growth. Industry after industry has had to fend off unfair trade practices by relying on the body of trade laws that Congress has enacted.
Our trading partners continue to attack our trade laws at the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in other negotiations. They have pressured the Bush Administration to trade away these basic provisions in our trade laws with the goal of further undermining our industrial base.
Congress passed the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (also known as the Byrd Amendment) to respond to continuing dumping and subsidies of our trading partners after they have been found to have violated our trade laws. The Byrd Amendment allows domestic petitioning parties to be reimbursed for qualified expenses from duties collected from companies that choose to continue to dump or subsidize the sale of products into our market. Qualified expenses range from plant and equipment to health care to pension payments for workers in companies that have been damaged from the continuing violation of our trade laws.
The goal of our trade laws is to stop the unlawful practices of our trading partners: the Byrd Amendment simply gives those damaged by continuing unfair trade practices a shot at staying in business, reinvesting in their company and their people.
Some of our trading partners objected to the law and brought an action at the WTO to deem it illegal. In another action overreaching its mandate, the WTO ruled against the U.S. and called for the law’s repeal.
Congress has objected to the WTO’s action and to the Administration’s call for repeal. Last year, 70 Senators joined together in support of the Byrd Amendment and asked the Administration to negotiate with our trading partners an explicit recognition of the right of the United States to distribute antidumping and countervailing duties. This approach was endorsed by Congress earlier this year in the Omnibus Appropriations Act. This opportunity is still available as negotiations on trade law issues continue at the WTO.
Despite overwhelming bipartisan Congressional support, and the fact that the WTO case is currently in arbitration, the Administration, in its most recent budget, once again called for the Byrd Amendment’s repeal. At the same time, complainants in the WTO case have been unable to demonstrate any harm to their trade resulting from the law.
The AFL-CIO stands strongly behind the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act and opposes any attempts at repeal or modification.