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Senators Attempting To End "Byrd Amendment" By Having Tariff Funds Go To Communities, Not Companies - Weirton Steel Says Bill Gives In To Unfair Trade Practices, WTO - For Immediate Release WEIRTON, W.VA. – Weirton Steel Corp. officials today vowed to work to defeat a bill recently introduced by U.S. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, aimed at terminating the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA), also called the "Byrd Amendment." "Sen. Snowe and her colleagues really missed the mark on this one. All this bill does is promote unfair trade practices that lead to unemployment and it yields to the whims of the World Trade Organization (WTO). We will fight this bill," said John H. Walker, Weirton Steel president and chief executive officer. The Byrd Amendment, introduced by U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., was adopted in 2000. The measure enables qualified domestic companies to receive a portion of the tariffs collected on imports that were proven to have violated U.S. trade law. Before the law, the tariffs were placed in the U.S. Treasury. Snowe’s proposal would halt the distribution of funds to companies and instead reroute them to communities adversely affected by trade liberalization. The communities would be able to use the money for development projects and infrastructure projects. Last year, Weirton Steel received nearly $600,000 in tariff monies and plans to apply for participation in the 2003 program. "What Sen. Snowe’s bill really says is that the government will help people after they lose their jobs. This is the exact opposite of what adjustment should do for an affected industry. Instead, as the CDSOA provides, money can be used to enable companies to continue to compete and provide jobs," Walker noted. Walker said Weirton Steel welcomed the $600,000 it received last year through the Byrd Amendment, but added the payment only represents only a small portion of the company’s expense to fight unfair trade practices which has impeded its ability to perform. The Consuming Industries Trade Action Coalition (CITAC), an organization of steel-consuming companies that oppose tariffs, recently formed the CDSOA Reform Coalition. The coalition’s executive director earlier this week claimed the Byrd Amendment encourages companies to filed trade cases in order to receive tariff funds. "It’s ridiculous for anyone to believe companies take legal action to stop unfair trade just to have the opportunity to receive tariff monies. We took legal action against unfair trade practices well before the Byrd Amendment was enacted. The incentive to file is to stop illegal acts, not to receive tariff funds," said Roger B. Schagrin, Weirton Steel’s trade attorney. Weirton Steel has been a complainant in a variety of trade cases in which it and other parties have proven that various countries sold steel at dumped and subsidized prices. As a result, the government imposed tariffs on the steel shipments to the U.S. "Companies that are harmed by unfair trade should receive the collected tariffs. They are the ones that have lost millions of dollars, filed for bankruptcy, reduced or ceased operations and had their employees face unemployment," Schagrin noted. Another Reform Coalition official also recently said Snowe’s proposal would end a dispute over the Byrd Amendment between the U.S. and the WTO. The WTO earlier this year ruled the amendment was not consistent with U.S. trade obligations. "Let Sen. Snowe ask U.S. negotiators if they ever negotiated with the WTO how the U.S. would spend our tariff funds. The WTO is wrong and it is never going to do anything for the U.S. We should not give into the WTO. The senator’s bill only promotes the trade deficit and skyrocketing unemployment," Schagrin commented. Weirton Steel is the sixth largest U.S. integrated steel company. Weirton Steel Corp. Media Contact:
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