united states - continued dumping and subsidy

offset act of 2000

Request for Consultations by Canada and Mexico

            The following communication, dated 21 May 2001, from the Permanent Missions of Canada and Mexico to the Permanent Mission of the United States and to the Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body, is circulated in accordance with Article 4.4 of the DSU.

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The Governments of Canada and Mexico, acting jointly and severally, each in the exercise of rights accruing to it as a Member of the WTO, hereby request consultations with the Government of the United States pursuant to Article 4 of the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, Article XXII:1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 (the GATT), Article 17 of the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of GATT 1994 (the ADA) and Articles 7.1 and 30 of the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (the SCMA) regarding the amendment to the Tariff Act of 1930 signed into law by the President on 28 October 2000, entitled the "Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act of 2000" (the Act).

The express purpose of the Act is to remedy the "continued dumping or subsidization of import products after the issuance of antidumping orders or findings or countervailing duty orders".  With that objective, the Act requires the U.S. customs authorities to distribute, on an annual basis, the duties assessed pursuant to a countervailing duty order, an anti-dumping order or a finding under the Antidumping Act of 1921 to the "affected domestic producers" for their "qualifying expenses".  The "affected domestic producers" are the petitioners or interested parties who supported the petition.  "Qualifying expenses" include the expenditure incurred with respect to "manufacturing facilities, equipment, acquisition of technology, acquisition of raw material or other inputs."