[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 154 (Thursday, November 4, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S13924-S13925]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             AMENDMENT TO REQUIRE A WTO MINISTERIAL REPORT

  Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, I am pleased that yesterday the Senate 
adopted my amendment to H.R. 434, the African and Caribbean trade 
legislation, regarding the upcoming World Trade Organization (WTO) 
Ministerial Conference in Seattle, Washington, from November 30 to 
December 3, 1999.
  My amendment is straightforward. It expresses the sense of the 
Congress on the importance of the new round of international trade 
negotiations that will be launched at the WTO Ministerial Conference, 
and would require the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to 
submit a report to Congress regarding discussions at the Ministerial on 
antidumping and countervailing duty agreements. My amendment sends a 
message from the Congress that these talks are significant and that we 
will be examining these discussions closely. Specifically, it sends a 
message to our trading partners that we have no intention of allowing 
the antidumping and countervailing duty agreements to be nonchalantly 
relinquished, and that we will be keeping an official record of any 
discussions on these topics.
  I am strongly opposed to opening the antidumping and countervailing 
duty agreements to negotiation, and, therefore, I am very pleased that 
the Administration reports that it will put forth a U.S. trade agenda 
that reaffirms trade remedy laws, and, specifically, U.S. rights to 
enforce antidumping and countervailing duty measures. Nevertheless, we 
should expect that certain WTO member governments will attempt to 
weaken the current antidumping and countervailing rules during the next 
round of talks. Certain WTO member governments will likely attempt to 
use the antidumping and countervailing rules as leverage against other 
U.S. priority issues, thus, pitting U.S. industries against one 
another.

[[Page S13925]]

  Without the antidumping and countervailing duty agreements, I believe 
that many of our trading partners would not hesitate to flatly dismiss 
their WTO obligations in order to maximize their own profits. 
Antidumping and countervailing duty rules offset foreign 
countervailable subsidies and below-cost pricing schemes intended to 
harm a U.S. industry. Prohibiting these unfair trade practices is the 
essence of our most basic trade agenda, and laws to thwart and penalize 
this behavior were enacted as early as 1897. As in 1897, antidumping 
and countervailing measures are a vital tool to combat unfair trade.
  My amendment would help the Administration put forth a U.S. trade 
agenda at the Seattle talks that reaffirms U.S. rights to enforce 
antidumping and countervailing duty measures, and that protects these 
codes from any negotiation. Undermining the right of the U.S. to 
respond to unfair trade practices will hinder the ability of many U.S. 
manufacturers, including U.S. steel mills, to fight against unfair 
trade. It would also undermine a century of work to build a 
straightforward and responsive international trade system.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.

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