Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeMs. Van Duyne (for herself, Ms. Sewell, Mrs. Miller of …
Summary
What This Bill Does
The Leveling the Playing Field 2.0 Act strengthens U.S. trade enforcement laws to better protect American manufacturers from unfair foreign competition. It closes loopholes in antidumping and countervailing duty laws that allow foreign companies to evade trade remedies through transshipment, currency manipulation, and cross-border subsidies.
Who Benefits and How
U.S. domestic manufacturers, particularly in steel, aluminum, and other import-competing industries, benefit significantly. They gain easier access to trade relief through successive investigations, faster case timelines (85-140 days for preliminary determinations), and new tools to combat currency manipulation and cross-border subsidies. Surety companies that provide customs bonds also benefit from increased bonding requirements for nonresident importers.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Foreign exporters face substantially higher compliance costs and risks, especially those from countries with subsidized industries or undervalued currencies (notably China). Nonresident importers must now maintain U.S. assets and post larger bonds, with penalties up to 50,000 dollars per violation. U.S. importers of covered merchandise face new certification requirements and potential penalties for false statements. Multinational corporations with complex cross-border supply chains face greater scrutiny of subsidies received anywhere in their production networks.
Key Provisions
- Establishes successive investigation rules preventing dismissal of trade cases based solely on improvements from prior relief
- Allows Commerce to cumulate cross-border subsidies from third countries when calculating countervailing duties
- Codifies particular market situation doctrine to address cost distortions in state-controlled economies
- Mandates investigation of currency undervaluation as a countervailable subsidy
- Requires nonresident importers to maintain U.S. assets sufficient to pay all potential duties
- Creates importer certification requirements with penalties for false statements
- Expands Commerce authority to determine country of origin independently of CBP rulings
- Accelerates investigation timelines for successive trade cases
Evidence Chain:
This summary is derived from the structured analysis below. See "Detailed Analysis" for per-title beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
Primary Purpose
Strengthens and reforms U.S. antidumping and countervailing duty laws to protect domestic industries from unfair foreign trade practices, including successive investigations, cross-border subsidies, currency undervaluation, and evasion.
Policy Domains
Legislative Strategy
"Close loopholes in existing trade remedy laws by strengthening successive investigations rules, addressing cross-border subsidies and currency manipulation, tightening requirements on foreign importers, and codifying particular market situation doctrine."
Likely Beneficiaries
- U.S. domestic manufacturers competing with subsidized imports
- Domestic steel and aluminum producers
- U.S. agricultural producers facing unfair foreign competition
- American workers in import-competing industries
- Trade remedy petitioners
Likely Burden Bearers
- Foreign exporters to the U.S. (especially from countries with government subsidies)
- Nonresident importers (new asset and bonding requirements)
- Multinational corporations with cross-border supply chains
- Countries engaging in currency undervaluation
- U.S. importers and retailers relying on cheap foreign goods
- U.S. consumers (potentially higher prices on imported goods)
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_commission"
- → U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC)
- "the_administering_authority"
- → Secretary of Commerce (via Commerce Department)
- "the_administering_authority"
- → Secretary of Commerce (via Commerce Department)
- "the_commissioner"
- → Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection
- "the_administering_authority"
- → Secretary of Commerce (via Commerce Department)
- "the_administering_authority"
- → Secretary of Commerce (via Commerce Department)
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A person, firm, or corporation that owns or controls facilities for the production of subject merchandise in two or more foreign countries.
A circumstance or set of circumstances that prevents a proper comparison of prices or distorts costs of production of subject merchandise.
Any importer other than a nonresident importer.
An ongoing investigation in which an affirmative determination has been made with respect to imports of merchandise that are the same or similar to merchandise in a successive investigation.
A completed investigation with an affirmative determination issued not more than 2 years before the date of initiation of the successive investigation.
An investigation initiated following a petition filed pursuant to section 702(f) or 732(f).
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology