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.
March 25, 2024 - The Department of Commerce publishes new regulations in the Federal Register formalizing major changes to U.S. trade remedy regulations. CSUSTL had participated in the years long rulemaking process. We commend the International Trade Administration (ITA) for the much needed update to the regulations, which addresses several longstanding issues with circumvention. an
d evasion of the laws.
April 18, 2024 – In mid-April, CSUSTL conducted its second roundtable conversation with U.S. International Trade Commission Chairman David Johanson in Washington DC, as part of the group’s annual Speaker Series. Johanson met in an afternoon session with representatives from the U.S. manufacturing, service, and agriculture sectors to discuss current trade issues before the agency.
April 25, 2024 -- CSUSTL announces the establishment of a working group of 100-plus domestic industries to advocate for necessary funds as a programmatic plus-up in the FY25 Commerce, Justice, State (CJS) appropriations. CSUSTL is asking Congress to provide a $5 million increase to the Enforcement & Compliance (E&C) activities of ITA in FY25 to meet this critical need. CSUSTL points out that the FY25 Presidents Budget Request (PBR) E&C request of $130 million is roughly $5 million short of what is needed to cover two years of inflationary costs. Further, at the PBR figure, no action is possible to address the dramatic increased circumvention of duty orders by China and others.
May 2024 - Earlier this month the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) and the International Trade Administration (ITA) announced that they will investigate, for the second time, whether silicon solar cells and panels made in Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam continue to be dumped into the U.S. market at prices that make domestic producers unable to compete. CSUSTL has urged the Administration to rescind the suspension of market-balancing tariffs on these Chinese solar product importers to give US manufacturers and workers the opportunity to better compete in the global economy.
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