Key Senators Press Administration for NAFTA Chapter 19 Fix

On October 3, 2012 eleven Senators sent a letter to USTR Kirk pressing the Administration to address the domestic forestry industry's concerns as part of the negotiating objectives of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

A copy of the letter can be accessed here

Comments to USTR on Negotiating Objectives with Respect to Canada's Participation in the Proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement

On September 4, 2012 the Coalition submitted comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in response to USTR's request for input on negotiating objectives with respect to Canada's participation in the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreement.

A copy of the Coalition's comments can be accessed here

House Lumber Trade Caucus Urges Administration to Address NAFTA Chapter 19 in Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Agreeemnt

On August 2, 2012 23 Members of Congress urged President Obama to ensure that the TPP negotiations will yield a "21st century" trade agreement that allows for the equal application of the U.S. trade laws with all of the TPP signing nations -- including Canada.

A copy of the letter can be accessed here

Comments to USTR on Canada's Expression of Interest in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Negotiations

On January 13, 2012, the Coalition submitted comments to the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) in response to USTR's request for input on Canada's Expression of Interest in the Trans-Pacific Partnership Trade Negotiations.

A copy of the Coalition's comments can be accessed here

"Zeroing" Amicus Curiae Brief at the Supreme Court

On June 24, 2011, the Coalition filed a brief as amicus curiae at the Supreme Court in support of maintaining strong antidumping laws. At stake is the question of whether the Department of Commerce (“Commerce”) has the discretion to discontinue the use of a dumping computation methodology known as zeroing, or whether the statute clearly requires the agency to use the zeroing methodology in computing dumping margins.

Following numerous adverse decisions by the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization saddling members with obligations that do not appear in WTO Agreements, Commerce changed its interpretation of the antidumping statute to allow an exporter's non-dumped sales to offset the exporter's dumped sales. The change in calculation methodology permits exporters to dump merchandise into the U.S. market so long as the exporters make some sales at higher prices, inviting exporters to manipulate some sales to mask dumping with respect to others. The change in practice results in a significant understatement of the impact of unfair trade in the U.S. market, which could be detrimental to the U.S. softwood lumber industry if antidumping duty litigation with Canada must be resumed in the future.

For many years, Commerce insisted that the clear wording of the statute required the use of zeroing. Commerce now says that the very same statute is ambiguous about zeroing, so the agency has discretion to abandon zeroing in order to appease the WTO. Unfortunately, the U.S. Court of International Trade and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit have upheld Commerce's new interpretation. Two domestic steel companies, United States Steel Corporation and Nucor Corporation, opposed Commerce in those court cases, and they have now petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit's decision. The Coalition supports the continued use of zeroing, and filed its brief in support of the steel companies urging the Supreme Court to hear the case. Because Commerce's decision to discontinue the use of zeroing will harm many domestic industries, this is a very important case with broad implications for the U.S. economy, and is, therefore, worthy of the Supreme Court's review.

A copy of the Coalition's brief can be accessed here

"Zeroing" Comments to U.S. Department of Commerce

On February 18, 2011, the Coalition submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Commerce in response to the Department's request for input on its proposal regarding compliance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) decisions on the use of "zeroing" in antidumping administrative reviews.

A copy of the Coalition's comments can be accessed here