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Business groups, others press Congress not to reinstate Byrd Amendment

September 26, 2008
World Trade\Interactive

Dozens of groups from every major sector of the U.S. economy wrote to House and Senate leaders Sept. 24 urging them to reject any attempts to reinstate the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act. The so-called Byrd Amendment, which was repealed several years ago, required U.S. Customs and Border Protection to distribute antidumping and countervailing duty revenues to affected domestic producers. There has been speculation that a provision reinstating a World Trade Organization-compliant version of this law could be inserted into the continuing resolution now working its way through Congress or another such “must-pass” bill.

In explaining their opposition to the CDSOA the groups pointed out that it mostly benefitted only a few domestic companies “without regard to how they use those funds or whether they are creating jobs, while undermining the competitiveness of many more U.S. companies and industries.” The law was also ruled unconstitutional by U.S. courts and found to violate WTO rules, the letter said, “prompting many of our largest trading partners to impose substantial retaliation against U.S. exports.” Reinstating the Byrd Amendment now “would prompt those countries to increase sanctions against our most competitive manufactured and agricultural goods exports” at a time when exports account for a substantial share of U.S. economic growth. It would also “severely undercut U.S. leadership in the global trading system and our own ability to enforce trade agreements,” the letter said.