Trade war: Congress set to reaffirm power to impose Chinese tariffs

WASHINGTON (AP) — Congress was moving Tuesday to overturn a court decision and reaffirm that the government has the right to impose higher tariffs on goods from China and other countries that subsidize their exports to the United States.

The House was expected to pass the bill Tuesday and send it to President Barack Obama for his signature. The Senate approved it Monday on a voice vote with no debate.

The speedy and bipartisan congressional action came after a federal appellate court ruled in December that the Commerce Department did not have the authority to levy the punitive tariffs because Congress had never explicitly given the agency that right.

The Commerce Department has been applying these “countervailing” duties since 2007. The legislation ensures that 24 existing higher tariff orders and six pending investigations against imports from China and Vietnam will continue to be valid.

The duties are allowed under World Trade Organization rules to counteract unfair subsidies used by countries, such as China and Vietnam, that have yet to fully adopt market economies.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Democrat, said that since 2007 countervailing duties have protected some 80,000 jobs across the country. “China doesn’t get a free pass to violate the rules at the expense of American jobs,” he said.