Schock Pushes China Issues in Meeting with Obama Administration

Press Release

Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL) and members of the House Ways and Means committee met today with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Commerce Secretary John Bryson and United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk to discuss the Obama administration's economic policies toward China.

"Today's meeting was an opportunity to find ways to work with the Administration on how we can curb China's harmful impact on US employers," said Schock. "Congress and the Administration must work together to apply the appropriate pressure to push China to open their markets. As we near 40 months of unemployment at or above 8 percent, we need to continue to look at every area of our economy to find solutions that can help our employers do what they do best and that's hire workers. While China is a major customer for US goods, we have to also ensure that US businesses are able to operate on equal footing with those abroad."

This week, Schock joined with Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp in introducing bipartisan legislation reaffirming that the Department of Commerce can continue to apply countervailing duty law (CVD) to non-market economics (NME) such as China. This legislation, H.R. 4105, is critical to leveling the playing field for U.S. employers and workers who sometimes face unfairly subsidized imports from countries like China.

"This legislation is an example of both sides coming together to do what is in the best interest of our job creators and our economy," said Schock. "Members of the Committee are united in ensuring China becomes a responsible and accountable member of the WTO."

The legislation specifically overturns a decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. In December 2011, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) found, in GPX v. United States, that US law prohibits the Department of Commerce from applying CVDs to NMEs, including China. If the CAFC's decision were allowed to stand, Commerce could likely be forced to terminate the 23 existing CVD orders against products from China (plus one from Vietnam) and the six ongoing investigations against Chinese and Vietnamese products. This would have an impact on over 80 American companies and tens of thousands of American workers in 38 states across this country. This legislation ensures that the 24 existing orders and six pending investigations against imports from China and Vietnam continue to be valid.

Identical bipartisan legislation will be introduced in the Senate and has received the support of the Obama Administration.

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