Why trade remedy laws are critical to a healthy manufacturing base

The U.S. Trade remedy laws - including in particular the antidumping and countervailing duty statutes – provide critical disciplines against unfair foreign trade practices and injurious import surges.  Indeed, the trade remedy laws serve a vital function in ensuring that U.S. manufacturers and their workers can compete on fair terms in their own market and can respond to unfair and illegal foreign trade practices.  Weakening those laws would have devastating consequences for our steel companies and other manufacturers at a time when the United States is experiencing a manufacturing crisis and record trade deficits.  Thus, now more than ever, it is critical to preserve the trade remedy laws.

In addition, disciplines against unfair foreign trade are central components of a free and open trading system and are essential in maintaining the support of American citizens for new trade initiatives.  The antidumping and countervailing duty laws provide incentives for market-based behavior and the reduction of foreign trade barriers by serving as a deterrent to unfair trade practices, closed markets and other market distortions abroad.  Effective disciplines against dumping and subsidies are also essential to the proper functioning of our market. 

With the most open market in the world, the United States depends on strong trade laws to ensure that it does not become the dumping ground for unfair traders seeking advantage through the use of practices long condemned under international rules.  Weakening our core trade disciplines would lead to the destruction of entire industries and sectors of the U.S. economy and, in the process, erode support in this country for the world trading system and new trade initiatives.