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Dayton
Business Journal...
Turner
bill to help combat unfair
trade agreements
Friday, October 7, 2011
Joe Cogliano
U.S.
Rep Mike Turner is looking to
boost U.S. companies’ efforts to fight barriers that are unlawful under
trade agreements.
Turner,
R-Centerville, on Thursday
introduced the Trade Law Enforcement Act, which offers an additional
way for
U.S. companies to get assistance from the United States Trade
Representative.
While U.S. producers can petition the USTR to take action under Section
301 of
the Trade Act of 1974, they seldom do. During 2010, only one of those
investigations took place.
Because
of its cost and complexity,
the process to get help from the USTR isn’t feasible, Turner said.
“A
process which costs tens of
thousands of dollars to undertake is not a realistic option for a small
or
medium-sized company, especially one that is losing business due to
unfair
trade practices,” Turner said in a statement. “Only the U.S. government
can
ensure that U.S. trade agreements are enforced. U.S. companies should
have
every opportunity to have their complaints investigated and acted on.”
Examples
of non-tariff barriers faced by U.S. companies include onerous labeling
requirements, discretionary customs valuation criteria and lack of
protection
for intellectual property.
Turner’s
legislation will:
•
Utilize a market access complaint
process that the Department of Commerce’s International Trade
Administration
already has in place as a starting point for possible action under
Section 301
of the Trade Act of 1974.
•
ITA will have 180 days to resolve
interested party complaints that a foreign country is engaging in an
act,
policy or practice that acts as a non-tariff barrier; if ITA is unable
to
resolve the issue, the bill mandates that the Secretary of Commerce
issue an
opinion as to whether the reported NTB meets the criteria for mandatory
USTR
action under Section 301.
•
If Commerce issues an affirmative
opinion, the bill mandates that USTR initiate a Section 301
investigation.
Further, the bill clarifies that subsections of the law giving USTR
discretion
not to start an investigation are not applicable and gives interested
parties
the opportunity to request a hearing.
Read
it at the Dayton Business Journal
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