U.S. Trade Rights Enforcement Act Introduced in Senate
On the same day that China abandoned its 11-year-old peg of the yuan to the U.S. dollar, Senator Susan Collins (D-ME) today introduced the "United States Trade Rights Enforcement Act," legislation that would provide the U.S. government with "tools to help ensure that China engages in fair trade." Senator Collins's bill is the Senate companion to H.R. 3283 that was recently introduced in the House by Representative Phil English (R-PA).
Collins' legislation, which has not yet been assigned a bill number, includes the language of the Stopping Overseas Subsidies (SOS) Act, which would authorizes the application of the U.S. countervailing duty law to exports from non-market economies such as China and the following other provisions:
--Authorizes an additional $6 million per year for USTR, beyond the President's request, for the General Council, the Office of Monitoring and Compliance, the Office of China Affairs, and the Office of Japan, Korea, and APEC Affairs.
--Requires the Treasury Department to submit a report to Congress that defines currency manipulation.
--Suspends for three years the availability of bonds for new shippers in antidumping cases and instead requires cash deposits to avoid situations in which shippers default on their obligations.
--Authorizes funding for the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and requires an ITC report on the sensitivity of U.S. trade and jobs to current policies.
|posted by Douglas N. Jacobson| Permalink 
