[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2992 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2992

To liquidate and distribute duties collected on certain softwood lumber 
                              from Canada.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           November 17, 2004

 Mr. Baucus (for himself and Mr. Craig) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To liquidate and distribute duties collected on certain softwood lumber 
                              from Canada.

    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 ``Softwood Lumber Duties Liquidation 
Act of 2004''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress makes the following findings:
            (1) On March 21, 2002, the Department of Commerce issued 
        final affirmative determinations in the antidumping 
        investigation, Case Number A-122-838, and countervailing duty 
        investigation, Case Number C-122-839, regarding softwood lumber 
        from Canada.
            (2) On May 16, 2002, the United States International Trade 
        Commission issued final determinations in Investigation Numbers 
        701-TA-414 and 731-TA-928 that imports of softwood lumber from 
        Canada threatened material injury to an industry in the United 
        States.
            (3) Estimated duties have been collected on entries of 
        softwood lumber from Canada by the Bureau of Customs and Border 
        Protection, pursuant to the issuance on May 22, 2002, of 
        antidumping duty and countervailing duty orders by the 
        Department of Commerce in the case numbers referred to in 
        paragraph (1).
            (4) The Government of Canada requested binational panel 
        reviews of these final determinations pursuant to chapter 19 of 
        the North American Free Trade Agreement.
            (5) Dispute settlement under chapter 19 of the North 
        American Free Trade Agreement offers relief that is prospective 
        only.
            (6) Section 516A(g)(5)(B) of the Tariff Act of 1930 
        provides that entries of merchandise, entered into the customs 
        territory of the United States prior to publication in the 
        Federal Register of a final binational panel decision or 
        extraordinary challenge committee decision, are to be 
        liquidated in accordance with the administrative determination 
        that is the subject of the binational panel review if the final 
        panel or extraordinary challenge committee decision is not in 
        harmony with the original administrative determination. The 
        final binational panel decision or extraordinary challenge 
        committee decision is prospective and applies to merchandise 
        entered after the publication of binational panel or 
        extraordinary challenge committee decision.
            (7) Entries of softwood lumber described in paragraph (3) 
        have not yet been liquidated and the duties have not been 
        distributed to eligible companies pursuant to section 754 of 
        the Tariff Act of 1930.

SEC. 3. LIQUIDATION AND DISTRIBUTION OF DUTIES.

    (a) Entries To Be Liquidated.--Notwithstanding any provision of the 
Tariff Act of 1930, the Department of Commerce shall issue instructions 
to the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection to liquidate all 
unliquidated entries of softwood lumber from Canada that--
            (1) are the subject of antidumping and countervailing duty 
        orders described in section 2(3) issued by the Department of 
        Commerce on May 22, 2004; and
            (2) entered the customs territory of the United States 
        prior to the publication in the Federal Register of a final 
        binational panel decision or extraordinary challenge committee 
        decision under section 516A(g) of the Tariff Act of 1930, to 
        the extent the decision is not in harmony with the final 
        determinations issued by the Department of Commerce and the 
        International Trade Commission described in paragraphs (1) and 
        (2) of section 2.
    (b) Duty Rates for Liquidation.--
            (1) In general.--The entries described in subsection (a) 
        shall be liquidated at the cash deposit rate in effect at the 
        time of the entries.
            (2) Deadline for issuance of instructions.--The Department 
        of Commerce shall liquidate the entries in accordance with this 
        section not later than 15 days after the date of enactment of 
        this Act.
    (c) Distribution of Duties.--The duties liquidated under this 
section shall be distributed to eligible companies in accordance with 
section 754 of the Tariff Act of 1930.
                                 <all>