JUNE 2004

Byrd Amendment Developments

The Bush Administration began preparations to make a fourth round of payments to companies under the auspices of the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA) - better known as the Byrd Amendment - which has been declared illegal by the World Trade Organization (WTO). US Customs and Border Protection published instructions for filing claims one month earlier than usual this year to make sure payments are made to eligible companies by the late November statutory deadline.

The US faces sanctions on potentially hundreds of millions of dollars of its exports to the European Union, Canada, Japan, India, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, and South Korea because of Congress' failure to repeal the CDSOA after the WTO declared it illegal.

Meanwhile, the WTO had been expected to rule earlier this month on the amount of retaliation US trading partners could impose in the case. However, EU officials said they had been informed that the decision would be delayed. WTO officials did not say how long the decision will be delayed.

Ways and Means Members Request Byrd Amendment Study

In a letter signed by four members of the House Ways and Means Committee, the General Accounting Office (GAO) was asked to review the Byrd Amendment and its impact on recipient industries. Specifically Chairman Bill Thomas (R-CA), and Reps. John Boehner (R-OH), Jim Ramstad (R-MN) and Judy Biggert (R-IL) requested that the study analyze the following issues:

The total amounts claimed and paid, broken down by year, in rank order by recipient, and by product or industry sector;

Projections for future payments;

• Factors that influence the distribution of such payments;
• Analysis of the top 30 recipients of funds that includes how the entity spent the funds and whether the funds were used for the purposes sought; whether the entity has, since the enactment of the Byrd Amendment, increased or decreased production, capacity, or employment in any US facility making a product for which payment was received under the Amendment; and whether, since the enactment of the Amendment, the entity or an affiliate is engaged directly or indirectly in non-US production and/or importation of a product for which payment was received under the Byrd Amendment;
• US Government methods to evaluate company claims for disbursement of Byrd funds and any follow up by the US government to ensure the funds were used for purposes outlined in the legislation;
• The impact of Byrd funds on other domestic competitors, including through such measures as trends in US production and capacity, US market share, and financial performance; and
• Whether the Amendment has influenced an entity's decision to file or support an antidumping or countervailing duty petition, on the scope of any such petitions, and/or on decision regarding limitations on the scope of existing antidumping or countervailing duty orders.

The legislators have asked for the study to be completed by January 24, 2005.

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