Sen. Carper Lauds Senate Passage of Bill to Protect U.S. Jobs, Fight Unfair Chinese Subsidies

WASHINGTON – Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) praised the Senate for passing legislation that would protect American jobs and exports by ensuring the U.S. Commerce Department could continue to apply countervailing duties in cases involving non-market economy nations like China and Vietnam. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Subcommittee on International Trade Ranking Member John Thune (R-S.D.) introduced the measure, and Sen. Carper was a co-sponsor. The U.S. government began the practice of applying these duties in 2007, but a court ruled in December that Congress never explicitly authorized the Commerce Department to do so. Since 2007, these countervailing duties have protected an estimated 80,000 jobs across the country by holding non-market economies responsible for unfairly subsidizing billions of dollars of imports.

“This bipartisan legislation will help us continue to create a more nurturing environment for job creation and job preservation here in the United States – especially within our manufacturing sector,” said Sen. Carper. “This bill strengthens our ability to hold other countries accountable for unfair and damaging trade practices, while protecting tens of thousands of American jobs in the manufacturing industry. This is a positive step for restoring American manufacturing and boosting exports from Delaware and across the country, and I encourage the House to take up this measure very soon.”

The bill provides for the Commerce Department to make a reduction to antidumping duties in non-market economy cases where countervailing duties are simultaneously being imposed, if it can be demonstrated that domestic subsidies have inflated the dumping margin, and if the Commerce Department is able to reasonably estimate an adjustment.

The bill was co-sponsored by 9 additional Senators: Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.); Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.); Tom Coburn (R-Okla.); John D. (Jay) Rockefeller (D-W. Va.); Susan Collins (R-Maine); Bob Casey (D-Pa.); Rob Portman (R-Ohio); and Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). An identical bipartisan bill was introduced in the House of Representatives today as well.

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