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.
August 9, 2023: Garrett Wright, CBP Director Trade Modernization meets with CSUSTL technical panel for a deep dive discussion re solutions to various trade challenges through its 21st Century Customs Framework.
August 8, 2023: Trade Counsel for Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Murray (D-WA) meets with CSUSTL's Executive Committee to discuss various trade issues.
August 1, 2023: CSUSTL sends letter to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations stating our objections to proposed cuts in funding for the enforcement of US trade remedy laws. The House version of the Fiscal Year 2024 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations would cut $24 million in funding for the enforcement of the antidumping countervailing duty laws and cause the agency to decrease their enforcement activities by roughly one-third.
June 20, 2023: Bipartisan legislation to level the playing field for American workers, companies, and communities is endorsed by CSUSTL. The legislation had been introduced by US Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Todd Young (R-IN) in the Senate; and US Representatives Bill Johnson (R-OH-6) and Terri Sewell (D-AL-7) in the House. Leveling the Playing Field Act 2.0 would strengthen US trade remedy laws to protect American workers and combat China's unfair, anti-free market trade practices that distort the global market.
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.
