CSUSTL
- Apr 19
- 3 min
Thoughts from the Chair
by Tom Beline, Cassidy Levy Kent - My paternal grandfather was an electrician’s mate in the U.S. Navy during the invasion of Normandy...
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CSUSTL is a trade association headquartered in Washington DC. Our membership consists of 429 companies and organizations representing 167 industries, agriculture,
and mining sectors. Current members have facilities/sites located in all 50 states of the nation. Member companies and organizations are situated in the congressional districts/states of 223 House Members and 100 Senators.
If you have an interest in the trade laws this is the source for you. Receive timely updates on what is happening to our laws with information that you can use.
How it began >
During the late 20th century the Uruguay Round included the governments of 123 countries in negotiations to create an international organization to govern almost all trade in the world from pencils to telecommunications. It was the largest trade negotiation ever in the history of the world. Many US trading partners saw this as their opportunity to strip away the 100-year-old trade remedy laws used by the US to protect against unfair trade practices. Fair and effective the laws were viewed as an obstacle by these nations in their efforts to capture US markets by using unfair trade practices to destroy US business. Many within the US government felt we would ultimately need to sacrifice the trade laws to get a deal. In January of 1989 a small group of US companies and law firms banded together to maintain and improve these laws in the negotiations. They were called the Committee To Support US Trade Laws, or CSUSTL. In April, 1994, the final deal was signed by all 123 governments. Against overwhelming odds the group was successful in its advocacy to preserve the effectiveness of the laws, and has continued that mission ever since.
March 23, 2023: CSUSTL kicks off the 2023 Roundtable CSUSTL Speaker Series hosting Guest Speaker David Johanson, Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC), for an afternoon roundtable session in Washington DC. The forum was established to promote interaction and relationship building between industry, labor, and senior federal trade officials. The program was originally established by CSUSTL in 2020.
March – April 2023: CSUSTL works with congressional supporters to support/request full funding in the FY24 CJS Appropriations of the ITA’s Enforcement and Compliance budget responsible for the enforcement of US trade remedy laws, and the execution of a 9th DOC enforcement office. CSUSTL will be continuing its advocacy for full funding as the appropriations cycle evolves over the coming months.
April 11, 2023: DOC Assistant Secretary Lisa Wang, and a team of senior ITA officials, meet with CSUSTL’s Executive Committee, and general membership, in the second meeting of the group’s 2023 Speaker Series. The session featured an innovative and informative breakout of the broader meeting into small one on one discussion groups wherein CSUSTL members and senior Administration trade officials had the opportunity to interact on pending trade issues.