Pete Domenici: “on April 6, 2005, I voted against a motion to table amendment, No. 309, otherwise known as the Schumer amendment, to the…”

“on April 6, 2005, I voted against a motion to table amendment, No. 309, otherwise known as the Schumer amendment, to the fiscal year 2006-2007 Foreign Affairs authorization bill. Upon careful consideration of this issue I have come to the conclusion that this amendment will be ineffective at best and harmful at worst. As it is currently written, the Schumer amendment will impose a tariff on all Chinese imports. Sponsors of the amendment claim this measure is necessary in order to compel the Chinese Government to revalue its currency. I am a supporter of free trade. I also believe that the benefits of free trade must be weighed against any harm that could be done to vital American interests. Understandably, there is considerable angst over the expanding trade deficit between the United States and China. Still, this body should not be hasty to repeat a mistake of the 106th Congress when it acted to support a similar amendment to the 2000 China trade bill. Similar to what the Schumer amendment proposes, provisions in the China trade bill allowed the Federal Government to impose a de facto tariff in the form of dumping penalties against foreign companies. The collected penalties were distributed to the companies that filed complaints in the U.S. It should be noted that the WTO defines ``dumping'' as a situation where goods are sold below price normally charged in home market.…”