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.
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.
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November 7, 2023: The Committee to Support US Trade Laws (CSUSTL) held its 2023 Congressional Staff Briefing in a virtual forum on November 7th with the topic being “Trade Remedy Laws: A Technical Discussion”. A panel of 5 US experts provided comments to an audience comprised of industry, congressional staff, and US government agency officials. The CSUSTL technical panel consisted of a former General Counsel for the USTR, former USTR Ambassador, former White House National Security Counsel; former congressional committee staffer, and former Senior Attorney at the DoC Enforcement & Compliance office.
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November 1, 2023: Distributions under the Byrd Amendment for US companies injured by illegal trade practices of offshore trading partners has ended after two decades. In early November, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced that it has processed all outstanding imports subject to the Continuing Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act (CDSOA) of 2000, otherwise known as the Byrd Amendment.  Under CDSOA, CBP has distributed roughly $3.6 billion to thousands of U.S. manufacturers, small businesses, and individuals harmed by anti-competitive behavior and unfair trade practices. CDSOA took the duties collected from offshore producers for their illegal trade practices and distributed them to domestic producers for reinvestment in their industries. Over 170 industries across the nation, and hundreds of CSUSTL's member organizations, have benefited from the law.
October 10, 2023: In September, the Government of Vietnam requested that the US treat Vietnam as a Market Economy (ME) for antidumping (AD) law purposes versus the current Non-Market Economy (NME) status through a changed circumstances review. CSUSTL filed a formal letter of opposition to the Vietnam ME request on October 10, 2023 with Commerce Secretary Raimondo. CSUSTL believes that prematurely granting market economy status to a country in which non-market principles and practices persist prevents U.S. manufacturing industries from competing on a level playing field, and also threatens to lower the standard applied by Commerce when other countries seek market economy designation. CSUSTL intends to participate fully in any changed circumstances review to oppose granting Vietnam market economy status and expects that its members will participate in opposition as well.
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