§ 1671. Countervailing duties imposed

4,991 words·~23 min read·/usc/title-19/section-1671

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(a)General rule If—

(1)the administering authority determines that the government of a country or any public entity within the territory of a country is providing, directly or indirectly, a countervailable subsidy with respect to the manufacture, production, or export of a class or kind of merchandise imported, or sold (or likely to be sold) for importation, into the United States, and

(2)in the case of merchandise imported from a Subsidies Agreement country, the Commission determines that—

(A)an industry in the United States—

(i)is materially injured, or

(ii)is threatened with material injury, or

(B)the establishment of an industry in the United States is materially retarded,

by reason of imports of that merchandise or by reason of sales (or the likelihood of sales) of that merchandise for importation,

then there shall be imposed upon such merchandise a countervailing duty, in addition to any other duty imposed, equal to the amount of the net countervailable subsidy. For purposes of this subsection and section 1671d(b)(1) of this title, a reference to the sale of merchandise includes the entering into of any leasing arrangement regarding the merchandise that is equivalent to the sale of the merchandise.

(b)Subsidies Agreement country For purposes of this subtitle, the term “Subsidies Agreement country” means—

(1)a WTO member country,

(2)a country which the President has determined has assumed obligations with respect to the United States which are substantially equivalent to the obligations under the Subsidies Agreement, or

(3)a country with respect to which the President determines that—

(A)there is an agreement in effect between the United States and that country which—

(i)was in force on December 8, 1994, and

(ii)requires unconditional most-favored-nation treatment with respect to articles imported into the United States, and

(B)the agreement described in subparagraph

(A)does not expressly permit—

(i)actions required or permitted by the GATT 1947 or GATT 1994, as defined in section 3501(1) of this title, or required by the Congress, or

(ii)nondiscriminatory prohibitions or restrictions on importation which are designed to prevent deceptive or unfair practices.

(c)Countervailing duty investigations involving imports not entitled to a material injury determination In the case of any article or merchandise imported from a country which is not a Subsidies Agreement country—

(1)no determination by the Commission under section 1671b(a), 1671c, or 1671d(b) of this title shall be required,

(2)an investigation may not be suspended under section 1671c(c) or 1671c(l) of this title,

(3)no determination as to the presence of critical circumstances shall be made under section 1671b(e) or 1671d(a)(2) of this title,

(4)section 1671e(c) of this title shall not apply,

(5)any reference to a determination described in paragraph

(1)or (3), or to the suspension of an investigation under section 1671c(c) or 1671c(l) of this title, shall be disregarded, and

(6)section 1675(c) of this title shall not apply.

(d)Treatment of international consortia For purposes of this part, if the members (or other participating entities) of an international consortium that is engaged in the production of subject merchandise receive countervailable subsidies from their respective home countries to assist, permit, or otherwise enable their participation in that consortium through production or manufacturing operations in their respective home countries, then the administering authority shall cumulate all such countervailable subsidies, as well as countervailable subsidies provided directly to the international consortium, in determining any countervailing duty upon such merchandise.

(e)Upstream subsidies Whenever the administering authority has reasonable grounds to believe or suspect that an upstream subsidy, as defined in section 1677–1(a)(1) 1 of this title, is being paid or bestowed, the administering authority shall investigate whether an upstream subsidy has in fact been paid or bestowed, and if so, shall include the amount of the upstream subsidy as provided in section 1677–1(a)(3) 2 of this title.

(f)Applicability to proceedings involving nonmarket economy countries

(1)In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), the merchandise on which countervailing duties shall be imposed under subsection

(a)includes a class or kind of merchandise imported, or sold (or likely to be sold) for importation, into the United States from a nonmarket economy country.

(2)Exception A countervailing duty is not required to be imposed under subsection

(a)on a class or kind of merchandise imported, or sold (or likely to be sold) for importation, into the United States from a nonmarket economy country if the administering authority is unable to identify and measure subsidies provided by the government of the nonmarket economy country or a public entity within the territory of the nonmarket economy country because the economy of that country is essentially comprised of a single entity.

(June 17, 1930, ch. 497, title VII, § 701, as added Pub. L. 96–39, title I, § 101, July 26, 1979, 93 Stat. 151; amended Pub. L. 98–573, title VI, §§ 602(a)(1), 613(b), Oct. 30, 1984, 98 Stat. 3024, 3035; Pub. L. 99–514, title XVIII, § 1886(a)(1), Oct. 22, 1986, 100 Stat. 2921; Pub. L. 100–418, title I, §§ 1314, 1315, Aug. 23, 1988, 102 Stat. 1185; Pub. L. 100–647, title IX, § 9001(a)(9), Nov. 10, 1988, 102 Stat. 3807; Pub. L. 103–465, title II, §§ 233(a)(5)(A), 261(d)(1)(B)(iii), 262, 270(b)(1)(A), Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 4899, 4910, 4917; Pub. L. 112–99, § 1(a), Mar. 13, 2012, 126 Stat. 265.)