Bill Summary & Status for the 107th Congress

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S.979
Title: A bill to amend United States trade laws to address more effectively import crises, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Durbin, Richard J. [IL] (introduced 5/26/2001)      Cosponsors: 7
Latest Major Action: 5/26/2001 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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TITLE(S):  (italics indicate a title for a portion of a bill)
STATUS: (color indicates Senate actions)
5/26/2001:
Introductory remarks on measure. (CR S5798-5799)
5/26/2001:
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

COMMITTEE(S):
RELATED BILL DETAILS:

***NONE***


AMENDMENT(S):

***NONE***


COSPONSORS(7), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]:     (Sort: by date)

Sen Bayh, Evan - 7/25/2001 [IN] Sen Byrd, Robert C. - 5/26/2001 [WV]
Sen Hollings, Ernest F. - 5/26/2001 [SC] Sen Mikulski, Barbara A. - 5/26/2001 [MD]
Sen Rockefeller, Jay - 5/26/2001 [WV] Sen Sarbanes, Paul S. - 7/11/2001 [MD]
Sen Specter, Arlen - 5/26/2001 [PA]


SUMMARY AS OF:
5/26/2001--Introduced.

Trade Law Reform Act of 2001 - Amends the Trade Act of 1974 to repeal the requirement that the cause of serious injury (or threat) be substantial to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with an article that is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities with respect to the President's taking action to facilitate efforts by such industry to make a positive adjustment to the import competition. Defines "cause" to mean a cause that contributes significantly to serious injury (or threat) to the domestic industry but need not be equal to or greater than any other cause.

Revises certain factors the International Trade Commission (ITC) must consider when investigating whether an article is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury (or threat) to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the imported article. Repeals, similarly, the requirement that such injury be substantial.

Amends the Tariff Act of 1930 to revise various factors that the ITC must consider in making material injury determinations in countervailing duty and antidumping duty proceedings.

Directs the Secretary of Commerce to implement a steel import notification and monitoring program. Requires a person to have a steel import notification certificate before entering certain steel products into the United States.

Authorizes certain entities or groups of workers which are representative of a domestic industry that produces an article like or directly competitive with an imported article to file a request to monitor such imports if serious injury to the domestic industry is caused or threatened.

Provides for the treatment of certain steel products for purposes of bilateral agreements or quantitative restriction arrangements covering such products.

Applies this Act to goods from Canada and Mexico.