WASHINGTON – Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin today introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen antidumping and countervailing duty laws to help U.S. industries combat unfair trading practices from foreign competitors. The Trade Law Reform Act of 2001, HR 1988, provides "safeguard" remedies to help U.S. industries -- particularly the steel industry -- deal with high levels of foreign imports.

"The global overcapacity of steel has lead to a serious dumping problem that is not in the best interests of our country. It's painfully obvious that we must strengthen our trade laws to protect American industry and workers," said Rep. Cardin, who represents many of the workers at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point, MD, plant.

The Congressman pointed to a Department of Commerce study from 2000 that identified 16 countries, including Korea, Japan, Russia and Brazil, as engaging in "market distorting practices" that resulted in "serious structural problems" in the global steel industry. According to the study, market distortions have been responsible for frequent bouts of large-scale dumping of steel in the United States.

The legislation consists of three parts. The first would make it easier for U.S. industries to prove injury and deal with damaging import surges. The second would amend the antidumping and countervailing duty laws to make it easier for U.S. manufacturers and farmers to secure relief from unfairly traded and subsidized imports, and the third would establish a steel importation notification program that would expedite the collection, analysis and release of critical import data. All these changes would be World Trade Organization (WTO) compliant.

The co-sponsors of the Trade Law Reform Act include Reps. Phil English, R-PA, Sander Levin, D-MI and Amo Houghton, R-NY. This legislation is similar to the Fair Trade Law Enhancement Act, HR 1505, which was also co-sponsored by Reps. Cardin and English in the 106th Congress.