[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 142 (Tuesday, October 19, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H10181]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           MAINTAIN UNITED STATES TRADE (MUST) LAW RESOLUTION

  Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, recently the Commerce Department announced 
a record trade deficit of $25.2 billion for the month of July. That 
means that foreign-made goods are displacing American-made goods. When 
foreign goods replace American-made goods, Americans are put out of 
work, pressure increases to lower wages, and the tax base for schools 
and cities shrinks.
  When those foreign-made goods are illegally subsidized or sold in the 
United States below price, the trade deficit worsens and it is even 
harder for American producers to compete. The U.S. has laws to protect 
American producers and workers from the illegal dumping of foreign-made 
goods into the U.S., but we are here because there is a real danger 
that the administration would give away those laws in trade 
negotiations at the World Trade Organization.
  How do we know that? Let me share something that recently came across 
my desk. I have here a list of American laws that the European Union 
wants the administration to trade away. Here on page 9 of this summary 
on the report on the United States barriers to trade and investment by 
the European Commission, the EU, the European Union, has identified 
America's antidumping laws.
  Mr. Speaker, when the EU identifies our antidumping laws as a 
problem, they are advocating on behalf of European-based multinational 
corporations. They want to make it easier for those companies to sell 
their products in the United States. Who will lose out if those 
European companies are allowed to export to the U.S. without regard to 
America's antidumping laws? American producers and American workers.
  House Resolution 298 says that giving up our trade law system is a 
bad deal for American producers and workers. Do not trade away our 
trade laws. This is particularly important for people I represent in 
the Greater Cleveland area who work in the steel industry. Because 
American steel is the best-made steel in the world made with the best 
equipment, with the best workers. And yet for all the investment in 
steel, for all the efforts by the workers there, for all the 
commitments made by organized labor by the unions who represent those 
workers, American steel is in trouble. American steel manufacturers are 
losing money because we are having and have had steel dumped in our 
markets, and that is not fair.
  So, Mr. Speaker, it is time to maintain U.S. trade laws. It is time 
to take a stand against dumping and it is time to make sure that U.S. 
laws that are made to protect American producers and workers from the 
illegal dumping of foreign-made goods into the U.S. are not just 
protected but are held inviolate. So I appreciate the opportunity to 
participate in this discussion this morning with the gentleman from 
Ohio (Mr. Ney), the gentleman from New York (Mr. Lazio), the gentleman 
from Ohio (Mr. Traficant), and the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. 
Doyle) and all the other colleagues who are here who have 
constituencies that are similar to mine and who want to make sure that 
we protect American jobs from the antidumping.

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