Brussels, 02/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission welcomes the fact that the US Congress passed, on 1 February, the Deficit Reduction Act 2005, which, among other things, does away with the Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act, better known as the Byrd Amendment. Under this law, the US government distributes anti-dumping revenue from customs duties to American companies that had called for the anti-dumping inquiry in question. Further to a complaint filed by the EU and several other States, the WTO had declared the Byrd Amendment illegal in 2003. Since 2005, the EU has imposed trade sanctions (in the form of a 15% rise in import duties) on a list of American products, and especially paper, textiles and machinery. The Commission welcomes the vote by Congress, but deplores the fact that the Byrd Amendment was not abolished with immediate effect, Commissioner Peter Mandelson's spokesman commented. Under a transition clause, duties imposed on goods imported into the United States up to September 2007 will still be distributed after their collection, which, in turn, under US practice, can take place several years after the import. This means that the practice will no doubt continue until 2008 or 2009.
As long as payments to US companies continue to be made, the EU will maintain its trade sanctions authorised by the WTO, a Commission source states.