House Passes Bipartisan Legislation to Help U.S. Manufacturers, Including Several Local Companies

Press Release

Today, Congressman Joe Donnelly voted for bipartisan legislation, H.R. 4105, to help level the playing field for U.S. manufacturing employers and workers, including several local companies. The legislation, which Donnelly is an original cosponsor of, passed the House by a vote of 370 to 39.

"I know that American manufacturers and workers can beat other countries like China in a fair fight," said Donnelly. "That's why this legislation is important--it helps to level the playing field for the hardworking Hoosiers who support their families by making great products here in the U.S."

The legislation will ensure the U.S. Commerce Department can continue to fight unfair subsidies on imports from countries like China. This legislation prevents Commerce from having to terminate 23 existing countervailing duty orders (CVD) against products from China and Vietnam and six ongoing investigations against Chinese and Vietnamese products.

As a result, this bill will directly impact several manufacturers in our community. For example, one of the CVDs that Commerce would have had to terminate is against Chinese aluminum extrusions. Several local manufacturers produce aluminum extrusions, including:

Patrick Metals in Mishawaka

Hydro Aluminum in North Liberty

Sapa Extrusions in Elkhart and Kokomo

The end of this CVD on aluminum extrusions imported from China would have hurt these companies by allowing unfairly subsidized Chinese products to enter the U.S. market.

This is not the first time Congressman Donnelly has fought for a CVD on Chinese aluminum exclusions. Last March, Congressman Donnelly urged the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) to issue a CVD on aluminum exclusions imported from China, and now his vote for H.R. 4105 will preserve this CVD.

In more detail, H.R. 4105 would:

Ensure that Commerce can continue to apply CVD law to non-market economies (NMEs), such as China. It would accomplish this by overturning a decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit that found that U.S. law prohibits Commerce from applying CVDs to NMEs. If the court's decision is not overturned, Commerce could be forced to terminate 23 existing CVD orders against products from China and Vietnam and six ongoing investigations against Chinese and Vietnamese products, impacting over 80 American companies.

Enable Commerce to adjust antidumping duties to address any potential "double remedy" in situations where CVDs and antidumping duties, calculated using the "surrogate value" methodology, are simultaneously applied to NME exports. Last year, the WTO Appellate Body found that there may be a "double remedy" in such situations.

H.R. 4105 currently has 111 bipartisan co-sponsors, including House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, Ranking Member Sander Levin, Trade Subcommittee Chairman Kevin Brady, and Trade Subcommittee Ranking Member Jim McDermott. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) endorsed this legislation. It passed the Senate yesterday by unanimous consent, and it passed the House today. It will now go to the president for his signature.

Source