"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," said Senator Collins. "I hear from manufacturers in my state time and time again 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."
The SOS Bill is seen as a solution to a federal court decision from 1986 that the Commerce Department says prevents it from applying antisubsidy laws to a nonmarket economy, such as China, which has hampered efforts to ensure fair trade with overseas companies. The fair trade legislation would allow the U.S. to enforce anti-subsidy laws, known as countervailing duty laws, on all trade partners.
"Regardless of bureaucratic definitions, if a country's unfair trade practices are hurting American workers and closing American companies, we should be able to use every available resource to go after them," Senator Bayh said. "The SOS Act cuts right through the red tape to the real heart of the matter - keeping American jobs - and provides an important tool to ensure that our workers have a level playing field when they compete with companies overseas."
Countervailing duty laws prohibit foreign countries from using illegal subsidies that give their industries and businesses an unfair advantage in the global marketplace. Current trade law does not allow the U.S. to enforce these laws on countries that traditionally operate under a state-controlled economy. But the SOS bill updates the law to take into account the fact that many of these countries, like China, now allow their manufacturing industries to operate as relatively free markets engaged in international trade.
Senators Collins and Bayh were joined today in announcing the SOS bill by Representatives Phil English (R-PA) and Artur Davis (D-AL), who introduced companion legislation today in the House. The Senate bill is cosponsored by Senators Richard Burr (R-NC), Rick Santorum (R-PA), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Richard Durbin (D-IL), Robert Byrd (D-WV), Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), Mark Pryor (D-AR), Blanche Lincoln (D-AR), Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), and Arlen Specter (R-PA).