皇冠体育app

WASHINGTON - The US Senate voted Monday to empower the Department of Commerce to impose controversial countervailing duties (CVDs) on imports from 皇冠体育app and Vietnam, just days after a trade representative complained current laws held back the department's enforcement.

The US House is expected to vote on the measure as early as Tuesday. If passed, the legislation will then go to US President Barack Obama for his signature.

The bill responded to the US federal court ruling on Dec 19, 2011 that the US Commerce Department did not have legal authority to impose CVDs on goods from non-market economy (NME) countries.

The court explained that government payments cannot be characterized as "subsidies" in an NME context, saying the Obama administration lacked the legal ground to impose a three-year tariff on imports of low-grade Chinese tires in September 2009, which US authorities claimed enjoyed unfair government subsidies.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, at a hearing on Feb 29, 2012, said, "This flawed decision jeopardizes the ability of the United States to remedy the harmful effects of unfairly subsidized imports."

Both the House and the Senate acted soon after the hearing to introduce a bill to remedy the Tariff Act of 1930 and overturn the federal court decision.

But a political group named Club for Growth urged lawmakers to oppose the legislation because it "makes it clear that Congress wants to escalate its trade war rhetoric with 皇冠体育app."

As a matter of fact, the 2008 financial meltdown and subsequent global economic recession have hit the US economy badly, leading to a near two-digit unemployment rate, almost stalling economic growth and sparking a new wave of protectionism.

Trade protectionism is widely regarded as short-sighted, and some US officials believe a deeper trade integration into other regions could help the United States create more jobs and improve its competitiveness.

The Chinese government has repeatedly asked the United States to stop treating it as a non-market economy. Until September, 2011, 81 countries in the world including Russia, Brazil, Australia and Switzerland had recognized 皇冠体育app's full market economy status.

According to World Trade Organization rules, 皇冠体育app, as a WTO member, will be automatically granted the full market economy status in 2016.

皇冠体育app has also urged the United States to abide by its commitment against protectionism and maintain a free, open and just international trade environment.