Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Tackle China’s Unfair Trade Practices

Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.) listens as former US Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on his nomination to be CIA director, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Jan. 15, 2025. Jemal Countess/AFP via Getty Images

A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation on Feb. 24 to strengthen U.S. trade enforcement laws against China’s unfair trade practices.

Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) led a group of more than a dozen senators in introducing the Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act, according to a press release. The legislation seeks to provide the Department of Commerce with new tools to address the impact of China-backed companies moving some of their production to other countries to circumvent American duties.

“China has distorted the free market by dumping undervalued products and subsidizing industries, actions designed to harm American businesses and workers,” Young said in a statement.

“This legislation will help level the playing field to ensure the United States can outcompete the Chinese Communist Party.”

The new tools would include modifying the anti-dumping and countervailing duty laws, to make it easier for petitioners to bring cases of companies moving production to another country.

The legislation would set specific deadlines for anti-circumvention inquiries, ensure the law can be applied to currency manipulation, and aim to address imports of goods like kitchen cabinets from China.

The bill would give the Department of Commerce the authority to apply countervailing law to subsidies provided by a government to a firm operating in a different country. In other words, the bill would address Beijing’s unfair trade practice of subsidizing its companies operating outside of China via its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), according to the press release.

The Chinese regime rolled out BRI, also known as “One Belt, One Road,” in 2013 with the objective of building up geopolitical clout by financing infrastructure projects throughout Southeast Asia, Africa, and Europe.

“For too long, foreign competitors like China have engaged in unfair trade practices that have undermined domestic industry and threatened our national security,” Smith said in a statement.

“This legislation provides more tools for the U.S. to stop illegal dumping and subsidies that have made it impossible for domestic producers and workers to compete.”

The legislation’s cosponsors included Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Jon Fetterman (D-Pa.), Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), and Katie Britt (R-Ala.).

A companion version of the legislation is being introduced in the House, led by Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.).

The legislation has drawn applause from several organizations.

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) praised the legislation for “addressing the growing problem of cross-border subsidization where foreign governments subsidize industries, like steel, not only in their own countries but in other countries as well,” according to a press release.

“Trade-distorting economic policies by China and other countries have contributed to a massive global overcapacity in steel, estimated to be 573 million metric tons globally last year,” Kevin Dempsey, president and CEO of the AISI, said in a statement.

“Unfortunately, U.S. trade laws as currently applied do not address subsidies given by a foreign government to production outside its borders, as China is doing today.”

On Feb. 10, President Donald Trump raised tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to 25 percent, which are set to take effect on March 4.

Betsy Natz, CEO of the Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA), said in a statement the legislation would “provide a much needed level playing field” for its 300 member companies that had been “hit hard by unfairly traded imports of kitchen cabinets from China.”

Ten organizations—including the AISI, the KCMA, the Alliance for American Manufacturing, the Steel Manufacturers Association (SMA), and the United States Cattlemen’s Association—sent a letter to the two chairmen and two ranking members of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees on Feb. 24, urging them to prioritize the legislation.

“To monopolize critical supply chains, China developed a global infrastructure, transportation, trade, and production network referred to as the Belt and Road Initiative. Our current trade laws have not kept up with China’s constantly evolving threat to domestic manufacturing,” SMA President Philip K. Bell said in a statement accompanying the letter.

“The Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act was designed to give our government the appropriate tools to safeguard impacted industries and American workers.”

Reuters contributed to this article.