Highlights of the Commerce Dept-Related Provisions in the 2004 Consolidated Appropriations Act

February 3, 2004 |Top News

On January 23, 2004, President Bush signed into law (Public Law (P.L.) 108-199) the conference version of the fiscal year (FY) 2004 omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 2673), entitled the "Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2004." P.L. 108-199 includes eight separate appropriations measures, including the 2004 Commerce, Justice, and State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (Act), which provides, among other things, FY 2004 appropriations for the Commerce Department.

This is Part II of a multi-part series of summaries on P.L. 108-199 and the accompanying conference managers' joint explanatory statement (managers' statement) and focuses on the Department of Commerce. See future issues of ITT for additional summaries.

International Trade Administration

P.L. 108-199 and the accompanying managers' statement contain provisions which provide FY 2004 funding, etc. for the Commerce Department's International Trade Administration (ITA), highlights of which are provided below:

New Office of China Compliance. The managers' statement provides $3 million for the establishment of a new Office of China Compliance (which the House Appropriations Committee report (H. Rept. 108-221) states will specialize in antidumping (AD) cases involving China, with special attention on small- and medium-sized domestic businesses);

Currency valuation. The managers' statement directs the Secretary of Commerce to report to Congress on the trade and U.S. employment impact of the currency valuation of U.S. trading partners, including China, Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, the Ukraine, and Indonesia;

National Textile Center. The managers' statement provides $10 million for the National Textile Center, $3 million for the Textile/Clothing Technology Corporation, and $500,000 for the International Trade Processing Center;

AD/CV, etc. The managers' statement includes, by reference, the following provisions of the House Appropriations Committee's report (H. Rept. 108-221):

Import Administration enforcement of AD/CV duty laws. This provision notes that since 1997 funding for the ITA's Import Administration to enforce antidumping (AD) and countervailing (CV) duty laws has increased by 70%, but that the number of AD/CV investigations has decreased significantly. This provision further states that the ITA is expected to strengthen its AD/CV enforcement efforts.
Reexamination of AD/CV cases closed during past three FYs. This provision expresses concerns regarding the possibility that findings in AD/CV cases of very low or zero dumping margins may have resulted from a flawed process and regarding the conduct of proceedings involving foreign companies located in non-market economies. As a result of those concerns, the ITA is directed to establish a team to re-examine all cases closed within the past three fiscal years and to provide an interim status report and a final report on the progress of such a review.
New shipper review process. This provision notes that Congress has heard many complaints that the new shipper review process has resulted in harm to domestic companies and, as a result, directs the ITA to review the new shipper review process.
GAO review of trade policy bodies. This provision requests that the General Accounting Office (GAO) monitor the efforts of the U.S. government agencies responsible for ensuring a free and fair trade process and provide Congress with an alternative assessment of performance.
Reports on trade with China, foreign content in U.S. exports, etc. This provision directs the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, to research and report to Congress on various China-related issues (e.g., various means to compensate losses of U.S. intellectual property holders created by China's inability to meet its World Trade Organization (WTO) intellectual property commitments, shifts of research and development from the U.S. to China, a survey on the extent to which U.S. manufacturers and their supply chains are relocating to China, etc.) and directs the National Academy of Sciences to conduct a study regarding foreign content in U.S. exports and U.S. content in foreign imports.
International standards. This provision endorses the Commerce Department's plan to focus efforts to ensure that U.S. business interests are represented at international standards negotiations and directs the Commerce Department to report to Congress on the steps taken to implement the international standards plan.

Byrd Amendment. P.L. 108-199 contains a provision stating that negotiations shall be conducted within the WTO to recognize the right of members to distribute monies collected from AD and CV duties;

(The managers' statement also adopts, by reference, a Senate Appropriations Committee report (S. Rept. 108-144) provision regarding the WTO Appellate Body's January 16, 2003 ruling on the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (Byrd Amendment) which directs the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), in consultation with the Commerce Department, to immediately initiate such negotiations within the WTO and to report to Congress on those negotiations.)

Bureau of Industry and Security, Census Bureau, Etc.

In addition, P.L. 108-199 also provides FY 2004 funding for the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), Bureau of the Census, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), etc.

(See ITT's Online Archives or 01/28/04 news, 04012899 3, for BP summary on President Bush's enactment of the FY 2004 omnibus appropriations bill.

See ITT's Online Archives or 01/26/04 news, 04012605, for BP summary on Congress' passage of the FY 2004 omnibus appropriations conference report.)

P.L. 108-199 available at http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_cong_bills&docid=f:h2673enr.txt.pdf.

Conference report (H. Rept. 108-401, which includes managers' statement) available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp108:FLD010:@1(hr401):

House Appropriations Committee's report (H. Rept. 108-221) available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp108:FLD010:@1(hr221):

Senate Appropriations Committee's report (S. Rept. 108-144) available at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/R?cp108:FLD010:@1(sr144):