[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 251 Introduced in House (IH)]






108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 251

     To protect small businesses from increased tariffs and other 
 retaliatory actions taken by the United States during a trade dispute.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 8, 2003

 Mr. Andrews introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                      Committee on Ways and Means

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To protect small businesses from increased tariffs and other 
 retaliatory actions taken by the United States during a trade dispute.

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

SECTION 1. EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN SMALL BUSINESSES FROM INCREASED TARIFFS 
              AND OTHER ACTIONS DURING TRADE DISPUTES.

     In any case in which--
            (1) the United States and one or more other countries are 
        parties to a trade dispute under a trade agreement, and
            (2) the United States increases tariffs on goods of such 
        other country or countries or imposes other import restrictions 
        on goods of such other country or countries on account of the 
        failure of that country or countries to come into compliance 
        with the terms of the trade agreement, in accordance with the 
        findings under dispute settlement proceedings under the 
        agreement with respect to the dispute,
an importer of those goods shall be exempt, to the extent provided in 
section 2, from such increases and from the imposition of such other 
import restrictions.

SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON EXEMPTION.

     The exemption under section 1 shall apply to an importer of goods 
in a calendar year--
            (1) if the importer had fewer than 100 full-time employees 
        (or their equivalents) during the preceding 2 calendar 
        quarters; and
            (2) only for that quantity of those goods which does not 
        exceed 125 percent of the quantity of the same goods that are 
        products of the country or countries referred to in section 1 
        and were imported by that importer in the preceding calendar 
        year.
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