Leibowitz: Trade Reform or More Trade Remedy Headaches?

Every so often there are ideas (but rarely new ones) to “reform” international trade laws. Mostly, the interests that have the ear of Congress (domestic producers of steel, for example, and organized labor) put forward their ideas. Less often, interests that employ more Americans in manufacturing put theirs forward. The two sides of the divide never seem to discuss what the proper goals of trade remedy law should be.

Last week, the two Ohio senators (Democrat Sherrod Brown and Republican Rob Portman) announced the introduction of a new trade remedy bill to further their goal—making it easier and cheaper for domestic petitioners to secure antidumping and countervailing duties that will keep out more imports. The senators’ press release of Friday, April 16, describes their principal proposals, but the text of the bill is not yet available.