HR 499 IHCommentsClose 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

January 14, 2009CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

Mr. DAVIS of Alabama (for himself and Ms. GINNY BROWN-WAITE of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concernedCommentsClose 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 ‘Nonmarket Economy Trade Remedy Act of 2009’.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) Recognition of Countervailable Subsidies in Nonmarket Economy Countries- Section 771(5)(C) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(5)(E)) is amended to read as follows:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(C) OTHER FACTORS- (i) The determination of whether a subsidy exists shall be made without regard to--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(I) whether the recipient of the subsidy is publicly or privately owned;CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(II) whether the subsidy is provided directly or indirectly on the manufacture, production, or export of merchandise; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(III)(aa) whether the country is a nonmarket economy country, orCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(bb) the level of economic reforms in a country that is a nonmarket economy country,CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





at the time the subsidy is provided.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(ii) The administering authority is not required to consider the effect of the subsidy in determining whether a subsidy exists under this paragraph.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(c) 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, irrespective of 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. When the administering authority has determined that China is a nonmarket economy country under paragraph (18) of this section, the administering authority shall presume 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





(d) Subsidies Provided to State-Owned Enterprises in the People’s Republic of China- Section 771(5A) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(5A)) is amended by adding at the end the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘For purposes of this paragraph, subsidies provided to state-owned enterprises in the People’s Republic of China shall be deemed to be specific if, inter alia, state-owned enterprises are the predominant recipients of such subsidies or state-owned enterprises receive disproportionately large amounts of such subsidies.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(e) Antidumping Provisions Not Affected- The amendments made by this section 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





(f) Rule of Construction- The amendments made by this section 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





(g) Effective Date- The amendments made by this section 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

SEC. 3. TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS ENTERPRISES IN NONMARKET ECONOMY COUNTRIES.

Section 771(18) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(18)) is amended--CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(1) by redesignating subparagraphs (D) and (E) as subparagraph (E) and (F), respectively; andCommentsClose CommentsPermalink





(2) by inserting after subparagraph (C) the following:CommentsClose CommentsPermalink





‘(D) TREATMENT OF INDIVIDUAL BUSINESS ENTERPRISES- The administering authority shall not consider requests for market economy treatment at the individual business enterprise level in an antidumping proceeding involving a foreign country determined to be a nonmarket economy country.’.CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

SEC. 4. 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 subsections (b) through (i) of section 4 of the Nonmarket Economy Trade Remedy Act of 2009.’.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