United States · Amendment · HAMDT

HAMDT 1155 (104th)

An amendment which delays until January 1, 1999, the time at which the federal Title XI shipbuilding loan guarantee program must be modified to comply with government financing rules established under the OECD agreement. The amendment further provides that vessels constructed with such loan guarantees be delivered no later than January 1, 2002. The amendment would also: allow U.S. shipbuilders to file vessel anti-dumping complaints with the Commerce Department, even if the U.S. shipbuilder was not invited to tender a bid to build the ship involved; require the U.S. Trade Representative to take certain investigative actions concerning possible below-cost sales of vessels by foreign shipyards to other foreign parties, if requested by a U.S. shipbuilder; clarify that nothing in the OECD agreement is to affect the Jones Act or other related U.S. laws, and provide that Jones Act vessels and U.S. shipbuilders who construct such vessels shall not be subject to any future actions under international agreements negotiated in the future. In addition, the amendment exempts from coverage under this legislation and from the OECD agreement, privately-owned "military reserve vessels" that have national defense features and characteristics required by DOD for possible military sealift needs.

Defence