In 2005, CITAC is initiating a major effort to secure repeal the WTO-illegal Byrd Amendment (the "Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act"), through a multi-industry coalition of impacted companies, together with trade associations and other industry groups. CITAC will incorporate an aggressive three-part strategy consisting of a major media and communications effort, Capitol Hill and Executive Branch lobbying campaigns, combined with a legal strategy to support the arguments for repeal and to secure industry and political support.
Other issues CITAC will continue to focus on — both in 2005 and in the long term — are ensuring that a 'short supply' process exists under trade remedy laws and policies to provide for the suspension of duties when the impacted product(s) are in fact in a short supply situation; eliminating WTO-illegal practices such as "zeroing" of negative antidumping margins and basing margins on arbitrary “facts available” calculations; providing for a reasonable "lesser duty rule" to prevent excessive duties and a "public interest" test before economically damaging duties are imposed at all; and finally, changing the unpredictable 'retrospective' system of duty collection that discourages imports regardless of the level of dumping and subsidy margins.
