Introduction
to US Trade Law Enforcement
On October 31st, David
Spooner, Assistant Secretary for the Import Administration (IA), U.S. Department
of Commerce, provided an off-the-record overview of areas covered by the Import
Administration in order to safeguard American industries from unfair trade.
The IA's roles include enforcing U.S. trade agreements, administering U.S.
preference programs with third countries and foreign trade zones, managing
import quotas, and giving guidance on textiles and apparel trade via the Committee
for the Implementation of Textile Agreements. The IA may also begin to focus
relatively more on preference programs if pending free trade agreements (FTAs)
come to a halt in the new Congress in January, 2007. There may be a strong
Congressional interest in renewing those preference programs that are scheduled
to expire soon, as exemplified by the passage of 'lame duck' legislation that
included the renewal of the Andean Trade Promotion Agreement.
Other hot topics under the purview of the IA that were covered included the
monitoring of non-market economies (NME) . The IA handles China as an NME
and evaluates subsidies provided to Chinese and other foreign producers/exports.
The purpose of these evaluations is to determine whether subsidies will provoke
the filing of an anti-dumping and countervailing duty case. Several recently
filed cases by the IA as well as settled cases were discussed, including the
CD case on glossy paper filed on the October 31st ,and other cases that have
recently been settled including cement and lumber.