Washington, DC -- U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell urged his Senate colleagues Wednesday to support legislation that would save jobs in Kentucky and across the country by allowing the Department of Commerce to continue to assess countervailing duties on imports from non-market economies, including China and Vietnam.
“I have heard from a number of Kentucky businesses employers who would be hit hard if Congress failed to act on this issue,” Senator McConnell said. “This legislation not only save jobs in Kentucky, but also helps level the playing field for Kentucky businesses and their workers who would otherwise be negatively impacted by subsidized imports coming from countries like China.”
In late 2011, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in GPX International Tire Corp. v. United States ruled that the Department of Commerce does not have authority to assess countervailing duties on imports from non-market economies. This bipartisan legislation introduced today by Sens. McConnell, John Thune (R-SD), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Tom Coburn (R-OK), John Rockefeller (D-WV), Susan Collins (R-ME), Bob Casey (D-PA), Rob Portman (R-OH), Thomas Carper (D-DE) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) would clarify the intent of Congress regarding this provision.