Ohio Companies to Benefit from Tariff Bill
Dayton Business Journal – New legislation is expected to help level the playing field for U.S. companies that compete against imports from non-market economies like China, and is expected to help more than a dozen Ohio companies.
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On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted to clarify that the Commerce Department can impose countervailing duties and tariffs against Chinese imports that benefit from illegal export subsidies. That follows a December federal court ruling that restricted the ability of the U.S. government to fight back against illegal trade practices from non-market economies such as China.
The court ruled that because China is a “non-market economy,” countervailing duties imposed by the U.S. Commerce Department on certain Chinese imports are illegal.
In February, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, R-Ohio, along with Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, wrote a letter urging leadership in the House and the Senate to expedite legislation that would address the court ruling and allow the Commerce Department to legally apply tariffs and other countervailing duties to Chinese imports that benefit from the illegal subsidies.
“By affirming the ability of the Commerce Department to legally apply tariffs and duties to imports from countries like China, we can help American businesses stand up to unfairly-subsidized imports from China and other non-market economies,” Brown said. “Senators from both sides of the aisle agreed that these jobs are too important to lose to China, and I am pleased to see this bill clear the Senate quickly and unanimously.”
Brown and Portman were among a dozen sponsors of the Senate bill. An identical, bipartisan bill was also introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives.
