The House of Representatives recently passed the America Creating Opportunities for Manufacturing, Pre-Eminence in Technology and Economic Strength (COMPETES) Act of 2022, H.R. 4521, 117th Cong. (2021-2022). The bill includes provisions from U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 (Leveling 2.0) which aims specifically to strengthen the U.S. trade remedies laws. According to Senator Brown’s website, the law would, among other items, “{crack}down on repeat offenders, by blocking the ‘whack-a-mole’ problem that occurs when trade remedy orders are put in place on imports from one country, and as a result the U.S. market is flooded with dumped or subsidized imports of that same product from a different country.” The bill itself would shield, from judicial review, determinations by the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission that are based on selecting “facts otherwise available” or using an inference that are adverse to foreign companies subject to U.S. trade remedy laws.
Husch Blackwell continues to monitor developments relating to the bill. In the meantime, for guidance or questions relating to current U.S. trade remedy laws, companies can contact the Husch Blackwell International Trade and Supply Chain team.