INVESTIGATION BY INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION.

SEC. 201. INVESTIGATION BY INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION. (a) (1) A petition for eligibility for import relief for the purpose of facilitating orderly adjustment to import competition may be filed with the International Trade Commission (hereinafter in this chapter referred to as the “Commission”) by an entity, including a trade association, firm, certified or recognized union, or group of workers, which is representative of an industry. The petition shall include a statement describing the specific purposes for which import relief is being sought, which may include such objectives as facilitating the orderly transfer 88 Stat. 2012of resources to alternative uses and other means of adjustment to new conditions of competition. (2) Whenever a petition is filed under this subsection, the Commission shall transmit a copy thereof to the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations and the agencies directly concerned. (b) (1) Upon the request of the President or the Special Representative for Trade Negotiations, upon resolution of either the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives or the Committee on Finance of the Senate, upon its own motion, or upon the filing of a petition under subsection (a)(1), the Commission shall promptly make an investigation to determine whether an article is being imported into the United States in such increased quantities as to be a substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof, to the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with the imported article. (2) In making its determinations under paragraph (1), the Commission shall take into account all economic factors which it considers relevant, including (but not limited to)— (A) with respect to serious injury, the significant idling of productive facilities in the industry, the inability of a significant number of firms to operate at a reasonable level of profit, and significant unemployment or underemployment within the industry; (B) with respect to threat of serious injury, a decline in sales, a higher and growing inventory, and a downward trend in production, profits, wages, or employment (or increasing underemployment) in the domestic industry concerned; and (C) with respect to substantial cause, an increase in imports (either actual or relative to domestic production) and a decline in the proportion of the domestic market supplied by domestic, producers. (3) For purposes of paragraph (1), in determining the domestic industry producing an article like or directly competitive with an imported article, the Commission— (A) may, in the case of a domestic producer which also imports, treat as part of such domestic industry only its domestic production, (B) may, in the case of a domestic producer which produces more than one article, treat as part of such domestic industry only that portion or subdivision of the producer which produces the like or directly competitive article, and (C) may, in the case of one or more domestic producers, who produce a like or directly competitive article in a major geographic area of the United States and whose production facilities in such area for such article constitute a substantial portion of the domestic industry in the United States and primarily serve the market in such area, and where the imports are concentrated in such area, treat as such domestic industry only that segment of the production located in such area. (4) For purposes of this section, the term “substantial cause” means a cause which is important and not less than any other cause. (5) In the course of any proceeding under this subsection, the Commission shall, for the purpose of assisting the President in making his determinations under sections 202 and 203, investigate and report on efforts made by firms and workers in the industry to compete more effectively with imports. 88 Stat. 2013 (6) In the course of any proceeding under this subsection, the Commission shall investigate any factors which in its judgment may be contributing to increased imports of the article under investigation; and, whenever in the course of its investigation the Commission has reason to believe that the increased imports are attributable in part to circumstances which come within the purview of the Antidumping Act, 1921, section 303 or 337 of the Tariff Act of 1930, or other remedial provisions of law, the Commission shall promptly notify the appropriate agency so that such action may be taken as is otherwise authorized by such provisions of law. (c) In the course of any proceeding under subsection (b), the Commission shall, after reasonable notice, hold public hearings and shall afford interested parties an opportunity to be present, to present evidence, and to be heard at such hearings. (d) (1) The Commission shall report to the President its findings under subsection (b), and the basis therefor and shall include in each report any dissenting or separate views. If the Commission finds with respect to any article, as a result of its investigation, the serious injury or threat thereof described in subsection ( b), it shall— (A) find the amount of the increase in, or imposition of, any duty or import restriction on such article which is necessary to prevent or remedy such injury, or (B) if it determines that adjustment assistance under chapters 2, 3, and 4 can effectively remedy such injury, recommend the provision of such assistance, and shall include such findings or recommendation in its report to the President. The Commission shall furnish to the President a transcript of the hearings and any briefs which were submitted in connection with each investigation. (2) The report of the Commission of its determination under subsection (b) shall be made at the earliest practicable time, but not later than 6 months after the date on which the petition is filed (or the date on which the request or resolution is received or the motion is adopted, as the case may be). Upon making such report to the President, the Commission shall also promptly make public such report (with the exception of information which the Commission determines to be confidential) and shall cause a summary thereof to be published in the Federal Register. (e) Except for good cause determined by the Commission to exist, no investigation for the purposes of this section shall be made with respect to the same subject matter as a previous investigation under this section, unless 1 year has elapsed since the Commission made its report to the President of the results of such previous investigation. (f) (1) Any investigation by the Commission under section 301(b) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (as in effect before the date of the enactment of this Act) which is in progress immediately before such date of enactment shall be continued under this section in the same manner as if the investigation had been instituted originally under the provisions of this section. For purposes of subsection (d) (2), the petition for any’ investigation to which the preceding sentence applies shall be treated as having been filed, or the request or resolution as having been received or the motion having been adopted, as the case may’ fie, on the date of the enactment of this Act. (2) If, on the date of the enactment of this Act, the President has not taken any action with respect to any report of the Commission containing an affirmative determination resulting from an investiga-88 Stat. 2014tion under section 301(b) of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (as in effect before the date of the enactment of this Act), such report shall be treated by the President as a report received by him under this sect ion on the date of the enactment of this Act.