Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Ready for Reconciliation: The Top Five Items No Fiscal Conservative Could Do Without
In the middle of the pack is Number 3 ...
The Byrd Amendment takes tariffs on imports that allegedly have been “dumped� in the United States and transfers them to the foreign firms’ competitors. It’s bad enough that these tariffs raise prices for U.S. consumers, but the Byrd Amendment gives U.S. firms the incentive to run to the government for protection rather than duke it out in the marketplace. Even worse, the WTO has ruled that the Byrd Amendment violates U.S. trade obligations and has awarded a number of countries the right to impose retaliatory duties on U.S. goods. For these reasons alone, ending the Byrd Amendment, as the House reconciliation would do, is a no-brainer; that it would save the government an estimated $3.2 billion is just icing on the cake.
The Byrd Amendment takes tariffs on imports that allegedly have been “dumped� in the United States and transfers them to the foreign firms’ competitors. It’s bad enough that these tariffs raise prices for U.S. consumers, but the Byrd Amendment gives U.S. firms the incentive to run to the government for protection rather than duke it out in the marketplace. Even worse, the WTO has ruled that the Byrd Amendment violates U.S. trade obligations and has awarded a number of countries the right to impose retaliatory duties on U.S. goods. For these reasons alone, ending the Byrd Amendment, as the House reconciliation would do, is a no-brainer; that it would save the government an estimated $3.2 billion is just icing on the cake.
