International Trade Law News

The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote tomorrow (Tuesday) on H.R. 3283, the U.S. Trade Rights Enforcement Act, a bill that includes a number of U.S.-China trade-related provisions. Among other things, H.R. 3283 would:

--Authorize the application of the U.S. countervailing duty law to exports from non-market economies(including China);

--Suspend for three years the requirement that the Commerce Department direct Customs and Border Protection to allow, at the option of the importer of such merchandise, the posting, until completion of the review, of a bond or security in lieu of a cash deposit for each entry of the subject merchandise;

--Require the U.S. Trade Representative and the Secretary of Commerce to ensure that specified steps are taken by the PRC to ensure its compliance with its international trade obligations regarding: (1) intellectual property rights; (2) access for exports of U.S. goods, services, and agriculture; and (3) a required detailed accounting of its subsidies to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the end of 2005;

--Require the Secretary of the Treasury to report to specified congressional committees on: (1) the definition of currency manipulation; (2) actions of foreign countries that will be considered to be such; and (3) how statutory provisions addressing it by U.S. trading partners contained in, and relating to, the Bretton Woods Agreements Act and the Exchange Rates and International Economic Policy Coordination Act of 1988 can be better clarified administratively to provide for improved and more predictable evaluation;

--Require the U.S. International Trade Commission to study and report on trade and economic relations between the United States and China.