S 974 ISCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To amend title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 to provide that the provisions relating to countervailing duties apply to nonmarket economy countries, and for other purposes.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

March 22, 2007

Ms. COLLINS (for herself, Mr. BAYH, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. COCHRAN, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. HARKIN, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. DURBIN, and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on FinanceCommentsClose CommentsPermalink

To amend title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 to provide that the provisions relating to countervailing duties apply to nonmarket economy countries, and for other purposes.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Stopping Overseas Subsidies Act'.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 2. APPLICATION OF COUNTERVAILING DUTIES TO NONMARKET ECONOMIES AND STRENGTHENING APPLICATION OF THE LAW.

(a) In General- Section 701(a)(1) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1671(a)(1)) is amended by inserting `(including a nonmarket economy country)' after `country' each place it appears.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Use of Alternate Methodologies Involving China- Section 771(5)(E) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(5)(E)) is amended by adding at the end the following: `If the administering authority encounters special difficulties in identifying and calculating the amount of a benefit under clauses (i) through (iv) with respect to an investigation or review involving the People's Republic of China, without regard to whether the administering authority determines that China is a nonmarket economy country under paragraph (18) of this section, the administering authority shall use methodologies to identify and calculate the amount of the benefit that take into account the possibility that terms and conditions prevailing in China may not always be available as appropriate benchmarks. In applying such methodologies, where practicable, the administering authority should take into account and adjust terms and conditions prevailing in China before using terms and conditions prevailing outside of China. If the administering authority determines that China is a nonmarket economy country under paragraph (18) of this section, the administering authority shall presume, absent a demonstration of compelling evidence to the contrary, that special difficulties exist in calculating the amount of a benefit under clauses (i) through (iv) with respect to an investigation or review involving China and that it is not practicable to take into account and adjust terms and conditions prevailing in China, and the administering authority shall use terms and conditions prevailing outside of China.'.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(c) Effective Date- The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) apply to petitions filed under section 702 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1671a) on or after October 1, 2006.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(d) Antidumping Provisions Not Affected- The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) shall not affect the status of a country as a nonmarket economy country for the purposes of any matter relating to antidumping duties under subtitle B of title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1673 et seq.).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(e) Rule of Construction- The amendments made by subsections (a) and (b) shall not be construed to affect the interpretation of any provision of law as in effect on the day before the date of the enactment of this Act with respect to the application of countervailing duties to nonmarket economy countries.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 3. REVOCATION OF NONMARKET ECONOMY COUNTRY STATUS.

(a) Amendment of Definition of `Nonmarket Economy Country'- Section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(18)(C)(i)) is amended to read as follows:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





`(i) Any determination that a foreign country is a nonmarket economy country shall remain in effect until--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





`(I) the administering authority makes a final determination to revoke the determination under subparagraph (A); andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





`(II) a joint resolution is enacted into law pursuant to section 3 of the Stopping Overseas Subsidies Act.'.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Notification by President; Joint Resolution- Whenever the administering authority makes a final determination under section 771(18)(C)(i)(I) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(18)(C)(i)(I)) to revoke the determination that a foreign country is a nonmarket economy country--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) the President shall notify the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives of that determination not later than 10 days after the publication of the administering authority's final determination in the Federal Register;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) the President shall transmit to the Congress a request that a joint resolution be introduced pursuant to this section; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) a joint resolution shall be introduced in the Congress pursuant to this section.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(c) Definition- For purposes of this section, the term `joint resolution' means only a joint resolution of the 2 Houses of the Congress, the matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: `That the Congress approves the change of nonmarket economy status with respect to the products of XXXXX transmitted by the President to the Congress on XXXXX.', the first blank space being filled in with the name of the country with respect to which a determination has been made under section 771(18)(C)(i) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(18)(C)(i)), and the second blank space being filled with the date on which the President notified the Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives under subsection (b)(1).CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(d) Introduction- A joint resolution shall be introduced (by request) in the House of Representatives by the majority leader of the House, for himself, or by Members of the House designated by the majority leader of the House, and shall be introduced (by request) in the Senate by the majority leader of the Senate, for himself, or by Members of the Senate designated by the majority leader of the Senate.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(e) Amendments Prohibited- No amendment to a joint resolution shall be in order in either the House of Representatives or the Senate, and no motion to suspend the application of this subsection shall be in order in either House, nor shall it be in order in either House for the presiding officer to entertain a request to suspend the application of this subsection by unanimous consent.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(f) Period for Committee and Floor Consideration-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) IN GENERAL- If the committee or committees of either House to which a joint resolution has been referred have not reported the joint resolution at the close of the 45th day after its introduction, such committee or committees shall be automatically discharged from further consideration of the joint resolution and it shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. A vote on final passage of the joint resolution shall be taken in each House on or before the close of the 15th day after the joint resolution is reported by the committee or committees of that House to which it was referred, or after such committee or committees have been discharged from further consideration of the joint resolution. If, prior to the passage by one House of a joint resolution of that House, that House receives the same joint resolution from the other House, then--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(A) the procedure in that House shall be the same as if no joint resolution had been received from the other House, butCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(B) the vote on final passage shall be on the joint resolution of the other House.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) COMPUTATION OF DAYS- For purposes of paragraph (1), in computing a number of days in either House, there shall be excluded any day on which that House is not in session.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(g) Floor Consideration in the House-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) MOTION PRIVILEGED- A motion in the House of Representatives to proceed to the consideration of a joint resolution shall be highly privileged and not debatable. An amendment to the motion shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) DEBATE LIMITED- Debate in the House of Representatives on a joint resolution shall be limited to not more than 20 hours, which shall be divided equally between those favoring and those opposing the joint resolution. A motion further to limit debate shall not be debatable. It shall not be in order to move to recommit a joint resolution or to move to reconsider the vote by which a joint resolution is agreed to or disagreed to.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) MOTIONS TO POSTPONE- Motions to postpone, made in the House of Representatives with respect to the consideration of a joint resolution, and motions to proceed to the consideration of other business, shall be decided without debate.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) APPEALS- All appeals from the decisions of the Chair relating to the application of the Rules of the House of Representatives to the procedure relating to a joint resolution shall be decided without debate.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) OTHER RULES- Except to the extent specifically provided in the preceding provisions of this subsection, consideration of a joint resolution shall be governed by the Rules of the House of Representatives applicable to other bills and resolutions in similar circumstances.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(h) Floor Consideration in the Senate-CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) MOTION PRIVILEGED- A motion in the Senate to proceed to the consideration of a joint resolution shall be privileged and not debatable. An amendment to the motion shall not be in order, nor shall it be in order to move to reconsider the vote by which the motion is agreed to or disagreed to.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) DEBATE LIMITED- Debate in the Senate on a joint resolution, and all debatable motions and appeals in connection therewith, shall be limited to not more than 20 hours. The time shall be equally divided between, and controlled by, the majority leader and the minority leader or their designees.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) CONTROL OF DEBATE- Debate in the Senate on any debatable motion or appeal in connection with a joint resolution shall be limited to not more than 1 hour, to be equally divided between, and controlled by, the mover and the manager of the joint resolution, except that in the event the manager of the joint resolution is in favor of any such motion or appeal, the time in opposition thereto shall be controlled by the minority leader or his designee. Such leaders, or either of them, may, from time under their control on the passage of a joint resolution, allot additional time to any Senator during the consideration of any debatable motion or appeal.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) OTHER MOTIONS- A motion in the Senate to further limit debate is not debatable. A motion to recommit a joint resolution is not in order.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(i) Rules of House of Representatives and Senate- Subsections (c) through (h) are enacted by the Congress--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) as an exercise of the rulemaking power of the House of Representatives and the Senate, respectively, and as such subsections (c) through (h) are deemed a part of the rules of each House, respectively, but applicable only with respect to the procedure to be followed in that House in the case of joint resolutions described in subsection (c), and subsections (c) through (h) supersede other rules only to the extent that they are inconsistent therewith; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) with full recognition of the constitutional right of either House to change the rules (so far as relating to the procedure of that House) at any time, in the same manner and to the same extent as in the case of any other rule of that House.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 4. STUDY AND REPORT ON SUBSIDIES BY PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.

(a) Study- The United States International Trade Commission shall conduct a study, under section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1332), regarding how the People's Republic of China uses government intervention to promote investment, employment, and exports. The study shall comprehensively catalog, and when possible quantify, the practices and policies that central, provincial, and local government bodies in the People's Republic of China use to support and to attempt to influence decisionmaking in China's manufacturing enterprises and industries. Chapters of this study shall include, but not be limited to, the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) Privatization and private ownership.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) Nonperforming loans.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(3) Price coordination.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(4) Selection of industries for targeted assistance.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(5) Banking and finance.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(6) Utility rates.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(7) Infrastructure development.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(8) Taxation.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(9) Restraints on imports and exports.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(10) Research and development.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(11) Worker training and retraining.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(12) Rationalization and closure of uneconomic enterprises.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(b) Report- The Congress requests that--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) not later than 9 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, the International Trade Commission complete its study under subsection (a), submit a report on the study to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate, and make the report available to the public; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) not later than 1 year after the report under paragraph (1) is submitted, and annually thereafter through 2017, the International Trade Commission prepare and submit to the committees referred to in paragraph (1) an update of the report and make the update of the report available to the public.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink