WASHINGTON – Yesterday, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-MN) and Todd Young (R-IN) introduced the Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act, legislation to strengthen U.S. trade remedy laws to fight against unfair trade practices and protect American workers.
The bill would improve the U.S. trade remedy system and respond to repeat offenders and serial cheaters, leveling the playing field for American workers. The bill also addresses China’s unfair trade practices, specifically its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which provides subsidies to China-based or China-operated companies doing business in countries outside of China. It would also update U.S. trade remedy laws to establish the new concept of “successive investigations,” which would improve the U.S. trade remedy system’s efforts to curb circumvention efforts from bad actors designed to undercut our domestic industries and increase market share.
Fair trade policies help workers, businesses, and farmers in Minnesota earn better incomes. But when countries don’t abide by international trade rules and aren’t held accountable, our workers lose out on jobs. This bill would help combat those bad actors and allow Minnesota producers and workers to remain competitive.
“For too long, foreign competitors like China have engaged in unfair trade practices that have undermined domestic industry and threatened our national security,” said Senator Smith.“This legislation provides more tools for the U.S. to stop illegal dumping and subsidies that have made it impossible for domestic producers and workers to compete. I’m glad to introduce the Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0 with Senator Young to protect American workers like Minnesota’s Iron Rangers.”
“Our bill will protect American jobs and combat China’s unfair trade practices,” said Senator Young.“China has distorted the free market by dumping undervalued products and subsidizing industries, actions designed to harm American businesses and workers. This legislation will help level the playing field to ensure the United States can outcompete the Chinese Communist Party.”
American companies are on the receiving end of China’s increasingly predatory economic behavior. In recent years, China’s unfair trade practices have culminated in grave economic consequences that affect American workers. China’s BRI unfairly subsidizes products made in other countries, rather than just in China. In addition to competing with these unfair trade practices, American companies have to contend with long lead times before the Department of Commerce initiates a new anti-circumvention inquiry.
Around half of the unfair trade cases are in the steel industry. However, these unfair trade cases also affect industries that make engines, furniture, hardwood plywood, pipes and tubes, wood moldings, magnesium, paper, shrimp, carrier bags, kitchen cabinets, quartz countertops, tires, and many others.
The Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act pushes back against China’s anti-free market practices by providing the Department of Commerce with more tools to stop circumvention tactics. These tools include:
- Establishing the concept of “successive investigations” under antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CD) laws. The new AD/CV investigations would improve the effectiveness of the trade remedy law to combat repeat offenders by making it easier for petitioners to bring new cases when production moves to another country;
- Expediting timelines for successive investigations and creating new factors for the International Trade Commission to consider about the relationship between recently completed trade cases and successive trade cases for the same imported product;
- Providing the Department of Commerce the authority to apply CVD law to subsidies provided by a government to a company operating in a different country;
- Imposing statutory requirements for anti-circumvention inquiries to clarify the process and timeline; and
- Specifying deadlines for preliminary and final determinations.
In addition to Senators Smith and Young, the bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Tom Cotton (R-AR), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Roger Wicker (R-MS), Jon Fetterman (D-PA), Jim Banks (R-IN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), and Bernie Moreno (R-OH).
Full text of the legislation can be found here.
###
English