From an Obama press release:
U.S. Senator Barack Obama today released the following statement after the International Trade Commission (ITC) concluded that Chinese pipe producers have injured U.S. manufacturers for several years by dumping circular welded steel pipe exports into our market - a practice which has been enabled through Chinese pipe producers receiving illegal government subsidies.
"I appreciate and support the ITC determination. This is the first case in the history of U.S. trade agreement enforcement involving subsidies in China that has resulted in the imposition of countervailing duties by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
"A month ago, the Department of Commerce determined that the actual rates of Chinese dumping range from 69 to 85 percent and that the actual illegal subsidies range from 29 to 615 percent. These are egregious and outrageous violations of fair trade, and the ITC's determination today was the only responsible response.
"The United States must always use the full range of multilateral and bilateral tools to insist that China and all other nations abide by the rules that govern the economic policies of nations. Our trade agreements must provide for fair competition and for fair treatment of American workers, and then they must be fully enforced as Congress intended them to operate."
I'm not too surprised that he supports this particular result. What I'd be more curious about is how he would react to a WTO ruling finding an ITC decision like this one in violation of WTO rules. Would he instinctively criticize it as undermining U.S. trade laws? Or would he praise the international rule of law? I'm guessing the former, but I'm not absolutely sure.
