House votes to dump Byrd amendment

House votes to dump Byrd amendment The U.S. House of Representatives has passed legislation to repeal a controversial trade law that has redirected more than $1 billion in antidumping and countervailing duties over the past five years to companies filing unfair trade complaints with the federal government.
   Shortly after midnight, the House passed the Deficit Reduction Act (H.R. 4241), by a narrow vote of 217 to 215. The bill calls for the repeal of the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, better known as the “Byrd amendment.”
   Import-related trade groups, such as the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) and the Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition Byrd Repeal Task Force, applauded the bill’s passage.
   “The Byrd amendment ultimately leads to higher prices for consumers, and we will continue to push for this ill-advised law to be overturned,” said RILA President Sandy Kennedy in a statement.
   The Byrd amendment requires antidumping and countervailing duty funds collected by Customs and Border Protection to be distributed to companies that petitioned for those duties. More than $1 billion in payments have been distributed since the Byrd amendment became law in 2001. Two-thirds of the duties Byrd amendment payments went to three industries: bearings, candles and steel.
   “This law creates an unnecessary and unhealthy incentive for domestic manufacturers to petition for higher duties on imported products,” said Paul T. Kelly, RILA’s senior vice president for federal and state government affairs. “Higher duties amount to little more than a tax increase on average consumers by adding directly to the cost of products sold in retail stores.”
   RILA pointed out that repeal of the Byrd amendment would not affect the basic operation of antidumping and countervailing duty laws. Instead it would remove the incentive for domestic manufacturers to file antidumping cases.
   The Byrd amendment, named after Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., has been under fire from many industry groups since its inception. The Government Accountability Office has also been highly critical of the legislation, noting that it drains resources from the federal treasury and distributes payments to a handful of companies with almost no oversight and accountability. The GAO found one recipient used his Byrd money to pay off his mortgage.
   The World Trade Organization ruled in 2002 that the Byrd amendment violates U.S. trade obligations. Congress’ failure to repeal the law has resulted in WTO-authorized retaliation against U.S. exports by Canada, the European Union, Japan, and Mexico. It’s estimated that these retaliatory tariffs have cost American shippers about $114 million.
   H.R. 4241 will now go to a House-Senate conference for review and approval. However, opposition to repeal the Byrd amendment remains strong in the Senate.