Senators back area in fight against subsidized imports
Dayton Daily News — Miami Valley companies and heavy industry throughout Ohio need a fast legislative fix to a U.S. Appeals Court ruling that hamstrings the ability to fight back against subsidized imports, said Sens. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, and Rob Portman, a Republican, in a message Wednesday to their fellow legislators.
In a letter addressed to House Speaker John Boehner, R-West Chester Twp., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, Brown and Portman urged them to provide “swift consideration of legislation to allow our government to defend American industries against unfairly subsidized imports.”
The U.S. seeks duties on foreign imports when they’re produced with advantages that domestic products don’t have, such as government subsidies. The imports here are sold so cheaply — sometimes for less than the cost of raw materials — that U.S. corporations can’t compete. Factory closures and lost jobs result.
On Dec. 19, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled the Commerce Department does not have the legal authority to impose duties on government-subsidized imports from nations like China and Vietnam, which don’t have market economies.
