DeLauro and Tancredo Bills - D.O.A.?
DeLauro and Tancredo Bills - D.O.A.?
Date: Tuesday, July 15, 2003 3:44 PM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
www.ZaZona.com
Reps. Tom Tancredo and Rosa DeLauro introduced major legislation to
curb nonimmigrant visa exploitation. Tancredo introduced a bill to
abolish H-1B and DeLauro's bill imposes major reforms and restrictions
to the L-1. These bills could be Dead on Arrival and here is why:
The WTO ruling on Bush's steel tariffs might seem unrelated to these
bills until you consider the fact that both visas are mandated by GATS,
and therefore they are under the jurisdiction of the WTO. Any
restrictions in these visas will be considered an obstruction to the
free flow of services and will be challenged.
China, India, and Europe are thumping their chests over their latest
victory against Bush's steel tariffs. If Bush capitulates and accepts
the WTO ruling then the precedent will be set for further challenges.
India has already said that they are going to take the U.S. to world
court to force less restrictions on H-1B. You can bet that India,
China, and other countries that are enriching themselves at our expense
will challenge DeLauro and Tancredo's bills if they ever pass the
House.
The world is watching what Bush does about the WTO ruling. At question
is whether the United States still have the right to determine it's
economic future or whether it has sacrificed its sovereignty to the
globalists at the WTO.
There is a ray of hope. Read what the U.K. Inquirer had to say about
this:
"But the US is getting so sniffy about the ruling that Bloomberg
describes Mr Robert Zoellick as saying that it could totally destroy
the trade relationship between Europe and the US."
>>> We can only hope that the Inquirer is right. <<<
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=2197
WTO could extract $4 billion from US
US tax law illegal - EU to win case
By Mike Magee: Sunday 13 January 2002, 13:57
A STORY ON the Bloomberg wire said today that Microsoft, Kodak, and
other large US corporations will get hit by a World Trade Organisation
(WTO) as a result of a ruling it makes tomorrow.
That could mean the European Union will impose sanctions worth over $4
billion in the form of high tariffs.
The story says that a US tax break will be ruled illegal by the WTO
tomorrow, and that means vast tariffs will be imposed by the EU as form
of damages.
And the US will have to pay $4.4 billion as a result of the ruling as a
result of what the WTO considers an illegal export subsidy.
The payments would be extracted in the form of additional import
tariffs.
But the US is getting so sniffy about the ruling that Bloomberg
describes Mr Robert Zoellick as saying that it could totally destroy
the trade relationship between Europe and the US.
Cough.
Go here for the whole palooka.
http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000085&sid=aBj9R_T4Zxqk&refer=europe
http://www.indystar.com/print/articles/3/057292-7973-031.html
http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/news/6282116.htm
U.S. plans to appeal WTO steel tariff ruling
Panel says duties out of line; Europe threatens retaliation
By Naomi Koppel
Associated Press
July 12, 2003
GENEVA -- In a stinging rebuke to the United States, the World Trade
Organization ruled Friday that heavy duties on steel imports imposed by
the Bush administration violate global trade rules.
Washington immediately said it will appeal, and will keep in place the
tariffs that President Bush had justified as necessary to protect
domestic steel producers against a flood of cheap imports during a
restructuring period.
In response, the European Union stepped up plans to impose $2.2 billion
in retaliatory duties on U.S. imports, ranging from footwear to fruit
and vegetables -- possibly pricing them out of the market.
A three-member panel of trade experts said in a 968-page ruling that
the "safeguard" duties of up to 30 percent introduced by the United
States last March were out of line with WTO rules.
That confirmed an interim ruling issued earlier this year and upheld
complaints filed by the European Union, Japan, South Korea, Norway,
Switzerland, China, New Zealand and Brazil.
The WTO panel said the United States failed to prove that its domestic
steel industry had been harmed by a flood of cheap imports -- a
precondition for safeguard duties. It also said the United States acted
illegally by excluding imports from countries with which it has free
trade agreements -- Canada, Mexico, Israel and Jordan.
The Bush administration insisted the tariffs are legal. "Safeguard
measures are allowed under WTO rules. Many countries have used them. We
believe the safeguard measures comply with our international
obligations," said Richard Mills, a spokesman for U.S. Trade
Representative Robert Zoellick.
He noted that the tariffs are reduced by 20 percent every year. The
first reduction has already taken place. "The steel safeguard measures
are already working.
"The domestic steel industry has undergone an unprecedented level of
consolidation and restructuring over the last year, making it more
competitive with imports," Mills said.
U.S. Steel Corp. agreed to acquire bankrupt National Steel, while
International Steel Group became the country's largest steelmaker when
it acquired Bethlehem Steel.
The European Union, the angriest complainant about the U.S. tariffs,
said Friday it is preparing to increase retaliatory duties on U.S.
imports. That cannot happen, however, before the outcome of the appeals
process -- which will likely take months.
U.S. steel industry leaders and lawmakers reacted to Friday's ruling
with fury.
"Our open borders policy has enabled the EU and other nations to make
tremendous profits and have kept their mills operating at the expense
of our mills and our workers," said John Walker, chief executive
officer of Weirton Steel Corp.
U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, a West Virginia Democrat, called the ruling
"wrong, plain and simple."
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200307/15/eng20030715_120309.shtml
China will Uphold WTO Judgment on US Steel Duties
China will cooperate with its co-complainants to enforce a World Trade
Organization (WTO) panel's judgment that US steel duties violate global
trade rules, a trade official said Tuesday.
The WTO Appellate BigBody for trade disputes Friday ruled that the
emergency tariffs imposed by the United States on steel imports were in
breach of WTO rules.
China, along with seven co-complainants, including the European Union,
Japan, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Norway, New Zealand and
Brazil, welcomed the panel's ruling and called upon the United States
to "terminate its WTO incompatible safeguard measures without delay."
China is aware of the US decision to appeal the panel's judgment, an
official with Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said, and has noticed
that the European Union has prepared a counterattack and is prepared to
impose sanctions five days after the WTO final decision if the United
States rejects the decision.
China is closely watching the progress of the case and will formulate
corresponding measures to ensure the legal rights of the Chinese steel
industry, the MOC official said.
The complainants brought their challenge to the WTO against the United
States in 2002 after Washington imposed up to 30 percent emergency
tariffs on imported steels in the name of protecting the ailing US
steel industry.
http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/07/26/stories/06260004.htm
WTO panel rejects U.S. appeal in steel case
GENEVA, JULY 25. Rejecting a U.S. appeal, a World trade organisation
panel upheld a ruling that the U.S. had acted illegally in increasing
duties on Japanese steel imports.
Even as the appeal panel's report was released, two other complaints -
from India, the European Union and other countries - about united
states "antidumping" procedures for steel Came before the WTO.
In the Japanese case, the appeals panel agreed with almost all the
findings of an earlier decision by WTO experts. That ruling, issued in
February, held that the U.S. Department of Commerce was wrong in
refusing to consider information from three Japanese steel companies
because their submissions had arrived late.
The increased duties were put in place in June 1999 after U.S. steel
companies and steelworkers associations complained that Japanese
hot-rolled steel was being "dumped" at below-market prices, making it
impossible for U.S. producers to compete.
Panel to take up Indian complaint
Meanwhile, the WTO today agreed to appoint a panel to look into
antidumping measures on steel plate from India imposed in February
2000.
India said that, among other things, the Department of Commerce had not
considered information submitted by the Indian company involved, Steel
Authority of India Ltd., and had failed to take into account the
special situation of developing countries.
The panel will have six months to make its ruling.
The U.S. now is obligated to reach an agreement with Japan on a
reasonable period of time to change its measures to conform with WTO
rules.
In the third case before the WTO today, the U.S. used its right
temporarily to block an investigation into a law that pays fines
collected in antidumping cases to the U.S. companies that brought the
case.
But the WTO will almost certainly appoint a panel when the issue is
considered again in September, as Washington can only block once. The
complaint was brought by the European Union and eight other countries -
the largest number of complainants in a WTO case.
The law known as the Byrd amendment was written with the steel industry
in mind, and almost half the cases covered by it are in the steel
industry.
The EU and the other complainants - Australia, Brazil, Chile, India,
Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Thailand - claim that the law punishes
exporters to the U.S. twice because first they are fined and then those
fines are handed to their competitors.
WTO panel rules that US steel duties are illegal
PTI[ FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2003 11:05:47 PM ]
GENEVA: The World Trade Organisation on Friday ruled against heavy
import duties on steel imposed by the US government, saying that they
are illegal under global trade rules.
The 968-page decision confirmed an interim ruling issued earlier this
year. It upheld complaints from the European Union and seven other
countries that the duties - supposed to protect the US steel industry
from cheap imports - were unfairly hurting their producers.
"This is not just a partial victory, this is a full victory. We have
been given satisfaction on all accounts," said EU spokeswoman Arancha
Gonzalez.
In a joint statement, the eight complainants called on the United
States to remove the measures "without delay." The EU said it was ready
to impose $2.2 billion in retaliatory duties on US imports.
US President George W Bush introduced the "safeguard" duties of up to
30 per cent on steel products in March of last year. Administration
officials argued the tariffs were allowed under WTO provisions that
allow temporary duties for up to three years to protect a domestic
industry from a flood of cheap imports and give it time to restructure.
But the European Union and its allies complained that the move was in
breach of a whole raft of WTO rules and threatened to raise their own
import tariffs in response.
There was no immediate response from the United States to today's
ruling, but when the interim ruling was released in March, officials
said they would appeal against the decision. That would allow the
duties to stay in place for a while longer.
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