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Dayton Daily News...
Ruling called
threat to Ohio companies
A federal court ruling on international trade threatens Ohio heavy
industries including Miami Valley companies, Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown
and Rob Portman said.
The senators said the ruling by a federal appeals court hamstrings the
U.S. in placing duties on China’s government-subsidized product exports
that undercut U.S. industries in Ohio including tires, steel and paper.
The U.S. has sought duties on foreign imports when they’re produced
with advantages that domestic products don’t enjoy, such as billions of
dollars in government subsidies that are common in places like China
where the government supports so many sectors of the economy.
The imports here are sold so cheaply — sometimes for less than the cost
of raw materials — that U.S. corporations struggle to compete. Factory
closures, along with lost jobs, result.
“This is a one-two punch for Miami Valley manufacturers,” said Brown, a
Democrat, who has long condemned China for manipulating its currency to
make its government-subsidized products even cheaper.
“Too many have been undermined by a flood of cheap Chinese imports
priced artificially low due to currency manipulation. Now, the Commerce
Department is being told it can’t fight back when China cheats.”
Portman, a Republican, called the ruling a “step backward for Ohio
workers and families seeking relief from unfair trade practices from
countries such as China.”
Portman added: “These duties were enacted only after a comprehensive
investigation, and over 20 Chinese products are currently subjected to
such treatment. If the administration is serious about protecting
American workers from unfair international competition, they should
expeditiously seek congressional authority to continue this practice
that protects American workers.”
On Dec. 19, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled that
because China is a “non-market economy,” so-called “countervailing
duties” imposed by the U.S. Commerce Department on Chinese imports are
illegal. It said Chinese government industry subsidies are not an
adequate basis to impose duties. U.S. trade officials have calculated
that the subsidies run into the billions of dollars and make products
imported into the U.S. so cheap that domestic competition isn’t
feasible.
Portman said that in what are called non-market economies like China’s,
the government coordinates all or most business activity in the
country. As U.S. Trade Representative, Portman said he initiated the
first-ever legal case to be litigated and won against China before the
World Trade Organization because of China’s unfair treatment of
U.S.-made auto parts.
Brown said Congress must act legislatively to assure the executive
branch has the authority to impose the tariffs.
A U.S. Commerce Department spokesman told the Dayton Daily News
Thursday: “The Commerce Department is greatly disappointed with the
decision,” adding, “the administration is currently considering
judicial and legislative options and will take appropriate actions as
soon as possible. The Commerce Department remains committed to vigorous
enforcement of U.S. trade law to ensure that U.S. companies and workers
have the opportunity to compete on a level playing field.”
Bill Van Den Brandt, spokesman for Appleton Papers Inc. with 450
employees in West Carrollton, said the ruling is being evaluated by
company attorneys. He added that it doesn’t immediately affect the
company, which won a 2008 International Trade Commission case against
unfair imports from China and Germany. But, he said, “We haven’t heard
the last word on this ruling. The decisions in 2008 were necessary for
our business.”
The appeals court ruling has its origins in a case filed by Titan
International Inc., U.S.’s largest off-the-road tire maker, and the
AFL-CIO, against Chinese tire imports that resulted in duties being
imposed. Titan’s tire production facilities are in Freeport, Ill.mhn,
Bryan, Ohio, and Des Moines, Iowa.
Dow Jones reported that China’s Ministry of Commerce Wednesday welcomed
the ruling.
“The U.S. has for years imposed anti-subsidy investigations on Chinese
goods that violate World Trade Organization rules and have no basis in
U.S. law,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.
Alan Tonelson, a research fellow at the U.S. Business and Industry
Council representing 2,000 domestic small and medium-sized
manufacturing companies, said the appeals court ruling underscores
flawed U.S. policy. “It’s the latest reminder of the pitfalls when we
rely on legalistic approaches to trade problems,” he said. “No other
trading power in the world would give so much power over such important
parts of its economy to judges with no apparent knowledge of global
market realities. Going down this road will continue to tie ourselves
up in knots and paralyze us when we try to respond to foreign market
rigging.”
Tonelson said he’s concerned that intense partisanship and paralysis in
Congress could make getting a legislative fix for the court ruling
problematic. In that vein, Brown said the U.S. House of Representatives
should pass the Currency Exchange and Oversight Reform Act, legislation
attacking currency manipulation authored by Brown and supported by
Portman. It’s estimated that China undervalues its currency below its
true value by at least 25 percent, undercutting U.S. manufacturers.
Brown called it the Senate’s biggest bipartisan jobs bill when it
passed in a 63-35 vote. But it’s been held up in the House by Speaker
John Boehner, R-West Chester, who said he won’t allow a vote because it
could ignite a trade war. The House measure has a majority 230
co-sponsors, including local congressional Reps. Mike Turner,
R-Centerville, and Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek.
The U.S. Business and Industry Council Wednesday called on House
members to sign a letter circulated by Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., to
Boehner urging him to allow a vote. Council President Kevin L. Kearns
called the bill “the struggling U.S. economy’s best short-term hope for
boosting employment and economic growth without worsening the federal
deficit or fueling the national debt.”
Portman and Brown have also recently teamed up on new anti-dumping
duties imposed by China on imported American-made autos. The senators
sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk asking him to
investigate the tariffs and “use all available tools” to deal with them.
Read this and other articles at Dayton Daily News
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