U.S. Senator Susan Collins applauds passage of legislation that she cosponsored that would help protect American jobs. The House and the Senate this week passed legislation, which is expected to be signed by the President, that would ensure that the Commerce Department can continue to apply countervailing duties in cases involving non-market economy nations like China.
In December, a U.S. Federal Court ruled that existing law does not allow U.S. companies to seek relief against unfairly subsidized imports from China and other nonmarket economy countries.
Last month, Senator Collins sent a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee calling for immediate consideration of legislation to ensure that trade laws intended to protect U.S. manufacturers and their workers against the harmful effects of illegal foreign subsidies could be applied to nonmarket economy countries, such as China.
“I am delighted that the Senate moved quickly to approve legislation to help level the playing field,” said Senator Collins. “Our nation’s manufacturers and their employees can compete against the best in the world, but they cannot compete against nations that provide huge subsidies and other unfair advantages to their producers. Time and time again, I hear from manufacturers in my state whose efforts to compete successfully in the global economy simply cannot overcome the practices of illegal pricing and subsidies of nations such as China. The results of these unfair practices are lost jobs, shuttered factories, and decimated communities. U.S. industries don’t want protection – they want fair competition.”