Countervailing Tariffs -- A Fair Trade Remedy for Runaway Jobs

Many factors have contributed to the exodus of good paying film andtelevision jobs from Hollywood, but the single biggest factor are theunfair and intolerable Canadian film subsidies, subsidies supposedlydesigned to encourage native Canadian film production, but instead usedfor the wholesale raiding of US film/tv jobs.

The fair trade solution for foreign subsidies is to apply a tariffin the amount of subsidy received on the importation of subsidizedgoods. In other words, a studio that picked up a million dollars inCanadian subsidies for shooting in Canada would have to pay the US amillion dollars in tariffs. That's what a countervailing tariff is--atariff designed only to neutralize another country's unfair tradepractices and to level the playing field. And unlike efforts toinitiate counter-subsidies of our own, it's a tactic that doesn't costthe taxpayers one dime.

The US International Trade Commission, with the Department ofCommerce has the power to order countervailing tariffs for industriesthat can show substantial damage from foreign subsidies. The processinvolves the broad participation of affected unions and workers. Agroup complaint is filed in the form of a mass petition from workers.It also requires expert legal help.

The Made in USA Foundation is a non-profit organization thathas been engaged of some major lawsuits against the export of US jobs,including the Steelworkers vs. NAFTA, which went to the US SupremeCourt. The Foundation is interested in attacking the Canadian filmsubsidies and has approached FTAC to test whether there is interestfrom the Hollywood unions and businesses in joining in a groupcomplaint against the Canadian subsidies and a request forcountervailing tarriffs.

Joel Joseph from the Made in USA Foundation attended aspecial FTAC meeting to discuss countervailing tariffs and what ittakes to win them.

The meeting was attended by a wide variety of film unions members,including members of the DGA, SAG, TEAMSTERS, LABORERS and IATSE(Locals 44, 80, 600, 705, 706, 728, 767, 768, 839, 847, 871, 876, 884,892) to mention a few. Other attendees included various industryvendors and concerned residents.

There was a very positive reaction to the idea of countervailingtariffs and most feel that they are attainable. Copies of the petitionwere distributed so that members could return to their locales and talkto their members about supporting it. These copies were preliminarywork product and open to change and rewrite.

Our next step is to have individual meetings with the unions andfind out their opinions, suggestions and the extent of their support.We are also checking with legal counsel and congressional leaders.

Film and Television Action Committee 11271 Ventura Blvd. StudioCity, California, U.S.A. 91604

For more information, visit http://www.ftac.net/index.main.html