May 28 , 2004 Volume 4 Number 3
U.S. Trade Remedy Laws:
Consumers are Collateral Damage
Would you support a flawed law simply because a bad law is better than none?
Wouldn't it make more sense to refine and improve that law? When dealing with
our country's antidumping and countervailing duty laws, many officials in
our government strangely enough think not. In a May 11th panel discussion
hosted by CWT, it became disturbingly clear that while trade remedy laws inflict
pain on thousands of downstream consuming industries in the United States,
their employees, and their customers, some in Congress and the Administration
trivialize the harm as "collateral damage," a price consumers should
be willing to pay so that our government can avoid the difficult business
of trade reform. Read more about
trade remedies…
Line Up for Higher Prices on Consumer Goods
Various U.S. corporate
interests are lining up to use U.S. trade laws to limit competition and hit
you where you live -- right in your pocketbook. Read
about how these trade laws are being used to increase consumer prices and
eliminate product choice.
What the U.S.- Australia
FTA Means for U.S. Consumers
The next time you
wash down your roast lamb with a delicious Australian Shiraz, your bill may
be lower thanks to the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA), which
was recently signed by President Bush for congressional consideration. Click
here to read how else the AUSFTA will benefit American consumers…
Bush Says "No"
to the AFL-CIO on China Labor Practices
Consumers for World Trade applauds the Administration for its recent decision
to reject a request by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial
Organizations (AFL-CIO) that would have used our trade remedy laws to challenge
Chinese labor practices. Read more
about this unprecedented case and why the administration did the right thing.
CWT in the News
- On June 16th, CWT will
host its Annual Awards Dinner in honor of Don Fisher, Chairman of Gap, Inc.
In addition, CWT will be recognizing retiring Congressional free trade leaders
Cal Dooley and Jennifer Dunn for their stalwart support of free trade throughout
their careers.
- On May 25th, CWT sent
a blast fax to the House of Representatives urging support for the new rule
proposed by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) allowing
unrestricted importation of Mexican avocados into the United States after
ninety years of trade restrictions. Read
it.
- On May 27th, CWT sent
a blast fax to the House of Representatives urging Members to support H.R.
3933 to repeal the Byrd Amendment. Click here
to read it.
- On May 12th, CWT hosted
a panel discussion of U.S. trade remedy laws and their failure to consider
the impact of anti-dumping and countervailing duties on downstream industrial
and retail consumers. Click here to see the event details.
- April 2nd, CWT hosted
a breakfast seminar on the U.S.-Australia Free Trade Agreement discussing
its benefits and shortfalls. Click here to see the event details.
- On March 26th, CWT
hosted a breakfast seminar on U.S. tariff policy with guest speaker Congressman
Phil Crane and at the same time roll out its study on the cost of tariffs
to the American consumer. Click here
to download a PDF version of the CWT tariff study.