[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 61 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 61

  To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to eliminate disincentives to fair 
                           trade conditions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 19, 1999

 Mr. DeWine (for himself, Mr. Hollings, Mr. Abraham, Mr. Santorum, Mr. 
 Specter, Mr. Byrd, Mr. Hutchinson, and Mr. Voinovich) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                                Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To amend the Tariff Act of 1930 to eliminate disincentives to fair 
                           trade conditions.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset 
Act of 1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS OF CONGRESS.

    Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) Consistent with the rights of the United States under 
        the World Trade Organization, injurious dumping is to be 
        condemned and actionable subsidies which cause injury to 
        domestic industries must be effectively neutralized.
            (2) United States unfair trade laws have as their purpose 
        the restoration of conditions of fair trade so that jobs and 
        investment that should be in the United States are not lost 
        through the false market signals.
            (3) The continued dumping or subsidization of imported 
        products after the issuance of antidumping orders or findings 
        or countervailing duty orders can frustrate the remedial 
        purpose of the laws by preventing market prices from returning 
        to fair levels.
            (4) Where dumping or subsidization continues, domestic 
        producers will be reluctant to reinvest or rehire and may be 
        unable to maintain pension and health care benefits that 
        conditions of fair trade would permit. Similarly, small 
        businesses and American farmers and ranchers may be unable to 
        pay down accumulated debt, to obtain working capital, or to 
        otherwise remain viable.
            (5) United States trade laws should be strengthened to see 
        that the remedial purpose of those laws is achieved.

SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO THE TARIFF ACT OF 1930.

    (a) In General.--Title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 
1671 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 753 following new 
section:

``SEC. 754. CONTINUED DUMPING AND SUBSIDY OFFSET.

    ``(a) In General.--Duties assessed pursuant to a countervailing 
duty order, an antidumping duty order, or a finding under the 
Antidumping Act of 1921 shall be distributed on an annual basis under 
this section to the affected domestic producers for qualifying 
expenditures. Such distribution shall be known as the `continued 
dumping and subsidy offset'.
    ``(b) Definitions.--As used in this section:
            ``(1) Affected domestic producer.--The term `affected 
        domestic producer' means any manufacturer, producer, farmer, 
        rancher, or worker representative (including associations of 
        such persons) that--
                    ``(A) was a petitioner or interested party in 
                support of the petition with respect to which an 
                antidumping duty order, a finding under the Antidumping 
                Act of 1921, or a countervailing duty order has been 
                entered, and
                    ``(B) remains in operation.
         Companies, businesses, or persons that have ceased the 
        production of the product covered by the order or finding or 
        who have been acquired by a company or business that is related 
        to a company that opposed the investigation shall not be an 
        affected domestic producer.
            ``(2) Commissioner.--The term `Commissioner' means the 
        Commissioner of Customs.
            ``(3) Commission.--The term `Commission' means the United 
        States International Trade Commission.
            ``(4) Qualifying expenditure.--The term `qualifying 
        expenditure' means an expenditure incurred after the issuance 
        of the antidumping duty finding or order or countervailing duty 
        order in any of the following categories:
                    ``(A) Plant.
                    ``(B) Equipment.
                    ``(C) Research and development.
                    ``(D) Personnel training.
                    ``(E) Acquisition of technology.
                    ``(F) Health care benefits to employees paid for by 
                the employer.
                    ``(G) Pension benefits to employees paid for by the 
                employer.
                    ``(H) Environmental equipment, training, or 
                technology.
                    ``(I) Acquisition of raw materials and other 
                inputs.
                    ``(J) Borrowed working capital or other funds 
                needed to maintain production.
            ``(5) Related to.--A company, business, or person shall be 
        considered to be `related to' another company, business, or 
        person if--
                    ``(A) the company, business, or person directly or 
                indirectly controls or is controlled by the other 
                company, business, or person,
                    ``(B) a third party directly or indirectly controls 
                both companies, businesses, or persons,
                    ``(C) both companies, businesses, or persons 
                directly or indirectly control a third party and there 
                is reason to believe that the relationship causes the 
                first company, business, or persons to act differently 
                than a nonrelated party.
        For purposes of this paragraph, a party shall be considered to 
        directly or indirectly control another party if the party is 
        legally or operationally in a position to exercise restraint or 
        direction over the other party.
    ``(c) Distribution Procedures.--The Commissioner shall prescribe 
procedures for distribution of the continued dumping or subsidies 
offset required by this section. Such distribution shall be made not 
later than 60 days after the first day of a fiscal year from duties 
assessed during the preceding fiscal year.
    ``(d) Parties Eligible for Distribution of Antidumping and 
Countervailing Duties Assessed.--
            ``(1) List of affected domestic producers.--The Commission 
        shall forward to the Commissioner within 60 days after the 
        effective date of this section in the case of orders or 
        findings in effect on such effective date, or in any other 
        case, within 60 days after the date an antidumping or 
        countervailing duty order or finding is issued, a list of 
        petitioners and persons with respect to each order and finding 
        and a list of persons that indicate support of the petition by 
        letter or through questionnaire response. In those cases in 
        which a determination of injury was not required or the 
        Commission's records do not permit an identification of those 
        in support of a petition, the Commission shall consult with the 
        administering authority to determine the identity of the 
        petitioner and those domestic parties who have entered 
        appearances during administrative reviews conducted by the 
        administering authority under section 751.
            ``(2) Publication of list; certification.--The Commissioner 
        shall publish in the Federal Register at least 30 days before 
        the distribution of a continued dumping and subsidy offset, a 
        notice of intention to distribute the offset and the list of 
        affected domestic producers potentially eligible for the 
        distribution based on the list obtained from the Commission 
        under paragraph (1). The Commissioner shall request a 
        certification from each potentially eligible affected domestic 
        producer--
                    ``(A) that the producer desires to receive a 
                distribution;
                    ``(B) that the producer is eligible to receive the 
                distribution as an affected domestic producer; and
                    ``(C) the qualifying expenditures incurred by the 
                producer since the issuance of the order or finding for 
                which distribution under this section has not 
                previously been made.
            ``(3) Distribution of funds.--The Commissioner shall 
        distribute all funds (including all interest earned on the 
        funds) from assessed duties received in the preceding fiscal 
        year to affected domestic producers based on the certifications 
        described in paragraph (2). The distributions shall be made on 
        a pro rata basis based on new and remaining qualifying 
expenditures.
    ``(e) Special Accounts.--
            ``(1) Establishments.--Within 14 days after the effective 
        date of this section, with respect to antidumping duty orders 
        and findings and countervailing duty orders in effect on the 
        effective date of this section, and within 14 days after the 
        date an antidumping duty order or finding or countervailing 
        duty order issued after the effective date takes effect, the 
        Commissioner shall establish in the Treasury of the United 
        States a special account with respect to each such order or 
        finding.
            ``(2) Deposits into accounts.--The Commissioner shall 
        deposit into the special accounts, all antidumping or 
        countervailing duties (including interest earned on such 
        duties) that are assessed after the effective date of this 
        section under the antidumping order or finding or the 
        countervailing duty order with respect to which the account was 
        established.
            ``(3) Time and manner of distributions.--Consistent with 
        the requirements of subsections (c) and (d), the Commissioner 
        shall by regulation prescribe the time and manner in which 
        distribution of the funds in a special account shall made.
            ``(4) Termination.--A special account shall terminate 
        after--
                    ``(a) the order or finding with respect to which 
                the account was established has terminated;
                    ``(B) all entries relating to the order or finding 
                are liquidated and duties assessed collected;
                    ``(C) the Commissioner has provided notice and a 
                final opportunity to obtain distribution pursuant to 
                subsection (c); and
                    ``(D) 90 days has elapsed from the date of the 
                notice described in subparagraph (C).
        Amounts not claimed within 90 days of the date of the notice 
        described in subparagraph (C), shall be deposited into the 
        general fund of the Treasury.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--The table of contents for title VII of 
the Tariff Act of 1930 is amended by inserting the following new item 
after the item relating to section 753:

``Sec. 754. Continued dumping and subsidy offset.''.
    (c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply with respect to all antidumping and countervailing duty 
assessments made on or after October 1, 1996.
                                 <all>