28 New Democrat Coalition Members Send Letter to Commerce Department, U.S. Trade Representative to Urge Strong Trade Enforcement
Led by Chairman Ron Kind, 28 Members of the New Democrat Coalition sent a letter to Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman today urging both officials to maintain strict enforcement of trade rules while pursuing a growth-focused trade strategy.
“As Members of the New Democrat Coalition, we support a pro-growth and pro-worker trade strategy that exports more ‘Made in America’ products and services abroad,” the letter says. “The further expansion of our rules-based, transparent system of trade, and the broadening of market access, have been and will continue to be critical components of our nation’s economic growth and fiscal recovery.”
The letter continues to note the Commerce Department’s recent enforcement successes, including a recently-announced victory at the WTO against China’s illegal antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CVD) duties on U.S.-made automobiles and sports utility vehicles, “which affected more than $5 billion of U.S. exports to China, our second largest autos export market.” At the same time, the letter notes the United States’ efforts to initiate “series of challenges” to foreign trade barriers in Indonesia, India, and China.
The letter also highlights an investigation pending before the Commerce Department regarding the alleged dumping of Oil Country Tubular Goods (OCTG) imports from South Korea. The legislators who signed the letter noted their concerns with reports that America’s steel industry faces a surge of dumped and subsidized foreign steel that is causing serious harm to our domestic industry, the letter states. The letter asks that Commerce fully consider the domestic industry’s allegations, ensure Commerce is using accurate data and objective methodologies, and take action against any unfair dumping to the fullest extent of the law.
Read a copy of the letter here.
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