Baldwin, Cassidy Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Support Communities Hurt by Chinese Trade Cheating

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) introduced bipartisan legislation that will support communities that have been negatively impacted by foreign, often Chinese companies that skirt trade laws. The legislation directs the millions of dollars collected in penalties for trade violations back to the communities impacted by unfair practices. Over the last three decades, American communities have lost millions of jobs after being exposed to the harms of cheaper, dumped, or illegally subsidized products imported into the U.S. from China.

The Resilient Communities Act would direct antidumping and countervailing duty revenue collected by Customs and Border Protection to a fund at the Commerce Department to support communities that have been injured by trade, including where there are companies facing layoffs, declining sales, or reduced shifts as a result of import competition.

“When countries like China cheat the trade system and flood the market with cheap goods, American companies, workers, and communities pay the price,” said Senator Baldwin. “I am proud to lead this bill with my Republican colleague to invest in the places that are experiencing layoffs or closures because Chinese companies aren’t playing by the rules.”

“Louisiana shrimpers have a great story to tell. Their shrimp is fresher, cleaner, and tastes better,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This is an important step towards protecting the families that rely on Louisiana’s seafood industry and ensuring that their communities prosper no matter how much China and India try to dump into U.S. markets.”

Dumping is a predatory trade practice wherein a manufacturer sells their product in the United States for a price below the producer’s sale price in their country of origin or cost of production in an effort to devalue their competitor’s products. Countervailing duties, or anti-subsidy duties, are imposed to offset the lower prices of goods entering a country because of subsidies from foreign governments.

While collections vary annually, antidumping and countervailing duty revenues collected by Customs and Border Protection have ranged from roughly $100 million to $300 million each year. Antidumping and countervailing duty laws are designed to raise the price of unfairly dumped and subsidized products to their fair market level, but filing a case is a costly and time-consuming process that too often comes too late for communities impacted by devalued goods flooding the market.

Under the Resilient Communities Act, the Secretary of Commerce would award these funds to communities that have been injured by trade, with priority given to communities where a domestic producer would be most likely to increase production and employment with the benefit of a grant. Additional eligible uses are for economic development, including: building public infrastructure, improving workforce development services, improving access to health and social services, and complying with Federal environmental standards.

This legislation is supported by the United Steelworkers and the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

A one-pager of this legislation is available here. Full text of this legislation is available here.

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