[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 149 (Thursday, October 30, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2131-E2132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             MEXICO MUST ADHERE TO THE WTO ANTIDUMPING CODE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. RICHARD H. BAKER

                              of louisiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, October 29, 1997

  Mr. BAKER. Mr. Speaker, I wish to express my serious concern with 
Mexico's unfair and

[[Page E2132]]

illegal imposition of antidumping duties to protect its domestic 
producers from United States exports. Such protectionism is contrary to 
the WTO Antidumping Code, and negates the benefits granted U.S. 
exporters under the North American Free Trade Agreement.
  Despite the fact that Mexico is a contracting party to the 
Antidumping Code, recent cases involving United States exports 
demonstrate that Mexico is not always following the legal requirements 
for imposing antidumping duties. For example, although the Antidumping 
Code has been in force for more than 2 years, Mexico still has not 
revised its law and regulations to reflect the code's provisions. A 
basic precept of the Antidumping Code is that duties must be based on 
an apples-to-apples comparison of prices. To that end, the code 
requires that certain adjustments be made to ensure that prices are 
compared under the same conditions of sale and levels of trade. The 
Mexican authorities have not given our exporters adequate guidance on 
how to qualify for such adjustment. Under these circumstances, the 
provisions of the Antidumping Code afford U.S. exporters no real 
protection from the improper imposition of antidumping duties.
  Mexico also is not granting United States exporters all of the 
procedural rights provided under the Antidumping Code--rights that are 
routinely provided Mexican exporters subject to similar proceedings in 
the United States. For example, in the investigation of United States 
apple exports, Mexico simply ignored the information submitted by the 
United States exporters and assigned the exporters a preliminary 
dumping rate of more than 100 percent. Mexico claimed that it was 
justified in doing so because it had minor questions regarding the 
accuracy of certain sales data. That is, Mexico presumed that the 
United States exporters were dumping, rather than requesting 
clarification of the information, or waiting until visiting the 
exporters to determine whether the reported information was correct.
  We in the U.S. Congress will be watching closely Mexican Government 
deliberation on the apples case, the most recently initiated 
investigation of U.S. paper exports, and other investigations. We will 
be vigilant in monitoring Mexico's abuse of its antidumping law in 
these investigations, and take swift action to address all abuses. 
Otherwise, the rights and benefits that U.S. exporters were granted 
under the WTO agreements and the NAFTA would be worthless.

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