Rick:   FYI.   The good Senator is making good on his promise to ask the 
Senate Finance committee to  initiate a 201.   Chris is looking into this to 
see if he has the votes.    Lisa
----- Forwarded by Lisa Yoho/NA/Enron on 05/17/2001 11:24 AM -----

	Chris Long
	05/17/2001 10:54 AM
		 
		 To: Linda Robertson/NA/Enron@ENRON, Lisa Yoho/NA/Enron@Enron
		 cc: 
		 Subject: Rockefeller on Steel


No. 96 
Thursday May 17, 2001	Page A-25 
	ISSN 1523-567X
	Regulation, Law & Economics
	
	International Trade
Rockefeller Asks Senate Finance to Act
Against Steel Imports Under Section 201

Sen. John D. Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said May 16 that he has asked the Senate 
Finance Committee to take action that could prompt the United States to 
restrict imports of steel from other countries--a move likely to be supported 
by the second-ranking Republican on the committee but opposed by its 
chairman. 
Saying he is running out of patience with the Bush administration, 
Rockefellor told reporters he has asked the committee to urge the U.S. 
International Trade Commission to begin an investigation into the cause of 
rising steel imports, which could result in President Bush's temporarily 
imposing import restrictions against the European Union, Japan, South Korea, 
and other countries under Section 201 of the 1974 Trade Act. 
"I've written the Finance Committee," he said, "asking for the initiation of 
a Section 201." 
Earlier this month, Rockefeller wrote President Bush asking him to initiate 
an ITC investigation under Section 201, noting that several U.S. steel 
companies had reported substantial losses in the first quarter of this year. 
"I am writing to let you know that we are in a do-or-die situation," 
Rockefeller wrote. "Failure to act now will be deadly. ...[T]he only 
immediate relief for the steel crisis is for you to initiate action under 
Section 201." 
Rockefeller said May 16 he also plans to introduce broader legislation May 17 
aimed at providing relief to the U.S. steel industry. He did not rule out 
eventually attaching the measure to the tax bill now working its way through 
Congress but said, "Let me get it introduced first." 

Bush Nominee Notes Possible Action

Earlier May 16, President Bush's nominee for a deputy U.S. trade 
representative slot, Peter Allgeier, said at a confirmation hearing of the 
Senate Finance Committee that the Bush administration was looking "very, very 
seriously" at possible action under Section 201. 
"I would like to assure you that [the administration is] looking very, very 
seriously at the issue of a possible 201 as part of our response to a very 
urgent problem," Allgeier said. 
U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick has provided members of Congress 
with similar assurances on several occasions since taking office earlier this 
year. On May 10, for instance, he told a House Appropriations subcommittee 
that a decision on possible Section 201 safeguard action should be made 
"within a matter of months or sooner." 
For his part, Sen. Charles F. Grassley (R-Iowa), who chairs the committee, 
said he would be "reluctant" to support committee action on the issue. 
"I would be reluctant to do that," he said. "I think our committee ought to 
be seen as honest brokers in that effort." 
Grassley told reporters he has been approached by "outside interests" that 
have urged him to back a committee request to the ITC on steel imports. 
"My message to them has been to work through the administration or file your 
own private action," he said. 
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah), ranking Republican on the committee, said he 
would "probably" support Rockefeller's plan for the committee to 
"self-initiate" action under Section 201. 
"I don't want to be unfair to other countries," Hatch told reporters, "but I 
sure as heck don't want them to be unfair to us either. ... I want the 
administration to be on notice that we're watching them." 

Senate Letter on AD, CVD Laws

Grassley, meanwhile, told reporters he did not sign the letter from 61 
senators to President Bush earlier this month saying they will oppose any 
international trade agreement that would weaken U.S. laws aimed at protecting 
the U.S. market from unfair imports or unexpected import surges because a 
"worldwide discussion" of antidumping practices, for instance, "would benefit 
the United States more than it would benefit other countries." 
He said he opposes efforts being made by some members of Congress to require 
the Bush administration to ensure that U.S. antidumping and countervailing 
duty laws were "off the table" in multilateral trade negotiations under the 
World Trade Organization. 
"I don't think we have anything to fear having it on the table," Grassley 
said. 
Some countries, such as South Korea and Japan, argue that U.S. trade laws 
have been used for protectionist purposes and have proposed revisiting the 
issue in the WTO. 
Allgeier, meanwhile, said that U.S. trade laws actually promote trade 
liberalization. 
"American manufacturers, farmers, and workers will feel more confident with 
trade negotiations if they feel that they have recourse to address these 
unfair trade practices by our trading partners," he said. "And so we do not 
have any intention of weakening U.S. trade remedy laws in our negotiations." 
Allgeier said that the United States cannot prevent other countries from 
bringing up the issue in trade talks. 

Little Progress Made on TPA

Grassley also told reporters May 16 he hopes that the Senate Finance 
Committee will be able to consider and approve legislation next month to 
renew the president's trade promotion authority, formerly known as "fast 
track." But he said that little progress has been made in discussions between 
his staff and the staff of Sen. Max S. Baucus (D-Mont.), the ranking Democrat 
on the committee, particularly concerning the contentious issue of labor and 
environmental protection in the context of trade agreements. 
"Our staffs have been talking on a very regular basis," Grassley said, "but 
that's not to say that there's been progress made." 
He said, however, he was still hopeful that the legislation could be cleared 
by the end of June, then approved by the full Senate before the next 
ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization, scheduled to be held in 
Qatar Nov. 9-13. 
Also testifying at the Finance Committee hearing on May 16, President Bush's 
nominee for U.S. ambassador to the WTO, Linnet F. Deily, said that if 
confirmed, she plans to begin meeting immediately with representatives of 
other WTO member countries in Geneva-- "hoping to build relationships based 
on trust and candor." 
"I look forward to working with other WTO members to try and find common 
ground or reconcile our disparate positions, while always representing the 
strength of the U.S. position," she said. "I would like to understand other 
perspectives while being a forceful advocate for our U.S. positions." 

By Gary G. Yerkey

Copyright , 2001 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington D.C.