Coalition aggressively seeking repeal of the Byrd Amendment

Declaring "this is the right time" to work toward repeal of the "Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act," commonly referred to as the "Byrd Amendment," a group of consumers and consuming industries today launched the CITAC Byrd Amendment Working Group.

The broad- based coalition seeks to end payments of public funds to private companies. Members of the Working Group cite multiple abuses of Byrd Amendment disbursements, including a growing number and broadening of scope of trade cases and competitors who receive tens of millions of dollars in unwarranted subsidies.

The Byrd Amendment Working Group held its inaugural meeting recently at the U.S. Capitol with House Ways and Means Committee member and Chairman of its Oversight Subcommittee, Rep. Jim Ramstad (R-MN), and Chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, Rep. Clay Shaw (R-FL) invited to attend. Earlier this year Reps. Ramstad and Shaw introduced HR 1121, a bill that would repeal the Byrd Amendment.

"Because we haven't yet repealed the illegal Byrd Amendment, American exports have been subjected to retaliation, and the U.S. faces a much greater task in convincing other countries to make their own laws compliant with international rules," said Ramstad.

In March 2005, the European Union and the Canadian government announced that U.S. products would be subject to retaliatory tariffs beginning May 1, 2005. The EU has now imposed a 15 percent duty on various types of paper, clothing, fabrics, footwear, and machinery -- amounting to tariffs worth approximately $28 million, and Canada has imposed like duties on cigarettes, oysters and live swine worth $14 million.

Both governments will review the products each year against the fluctuating amount of Byrd disbursements. The retaliatory decisions followed a 2002 World Trade Organization dispute settlement panel that ruled the Byrd Amendment in violation of U.S. trade obligations, a decision later upheld by the WTO Appellate Body.

"More than $1 billion has been paid directly to U.S. companies who file and support antidumping and countervailing duty petitions that result in duties," said Steve Alexander, Executive Director of CITAC and President of the CMR Group. "Last year alone, Byrd payments totaled $284 million. We all have to work together to repeal this law."

Lori Denham of the Retail Industry Leaders Association and Erik Autor of the National Retail Federation who are co-chairing CITAC's lobbying effort, stressed the uphill battle the CITAC effort will face.

Said Denham, "The Byrd Amendment hurts American consumers. More and more of our products are being hit with trade petitions for consumer products that simply cannot be sourced in the U.S., driving up the cost of the product and making business less competitive. We intend to educate policymakers on these issues and keep pushing until the bill is repealed."

Byrd Amendment Working Group companies include: National Retail Federation, Michelin North America, Retail Industry Leaders Association, The Bombay Company and the Precision Metalforming Association. CITAC is a major trade organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. with the primary objective of ensuring that manufacturers in America have access to reliable supplies of globally-priced materials necessary for those industries to compete in the world economy.

For additional information, please visit http://www.citac.info/.