Titan International Inc (TWI)

[starbuxsux]

U.S. Trade Judge Upholds Retroactive Tariffs on Chinese Goods

2:48 PM ET 1/7/13 | Dow Jones
By Brent Kendall

WASHINGTON--A U.S. trade judge ruled Monday that Congress acted constitutionally last year when it allowed retroactive tariffs on some Chinese goods imported into the U.S.

In a case involving Chinese off-road tires, U.S. Court of International Trade Judge Jane Restani upheld a law Congress passed quickly in March that gave the Commerce Department the power to levy tariffs on Chinese goods that enjoy subsidies from the Chinese government.

The legislation was a direct response to a 2011 ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which held that the Commerce Department did not have the power to impose such tariffs on nonmarket economies like China's.

Because the Federal Circuit's ruling threatened antisubsidy tariffs the department had imposed on about two dozen types of Chinese goods since 2007, Congress backdated the effective date of the law to late 2006 in order to make sure those tariffs could be saved.

GPX International Tire Corp., a defunct family-owned U.S. business, and Chinese producers challenged the legislation, arguing the backdating of the law made it retroactive and unconstitutional.

Titan International Inc. (TWI), a Quincy, Ill., maker of off-road tires, had petitioned for the U.S. tariffs and argued that Congress acted properly to protect American jobs.

The Constitution states plainly that Congress and the states can't enact ex post facto--or after the fact--laws. But the Supreme Court for more than 200 years has said that not all laws with retroactive effect are unconstitutional. The high court has been particularly deferential to retroactive laws on civil matters such as national economic policy.

Citing this deference, Judge Restani ruled the tariff law was not the type of retroactive penal legislation barred by the Constitution. She also rejected GPX's arguments that the legislation violated its right to due process under the law.

The ruling, however, was not a total win for the U.S. government. The judge said the Commerce Department's tariff calculations were not fully consistent the law and she remanded the case for the department to recalculate the appropriate rates.

Write to Brent Kendall at [e-mail]

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires



> Dow Jones Newswires

January 07, 2013 14:48 ET (19:48 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.