Litigation and business services law firm Husch Blackwell has been tapped by China’s national foreign trade and investment promotion agency, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, to educate members of Congress and White House administration officials on trade issues related to stainless steel.

CCPIT

CCPIT was established by the Chinese government in 1952 to promote trade and develop China’s international economic relations with investment organizations in foreign countries. The agency, whose personnel is comprised of enterprises and organizations representing China’s economic and trade sectors, is funded and sponsored entirely by the Chinese government under the authority of its State Council.

A delegation of CCPIT officials will travel to Washington, D.C. for the January 31 U.S. International Trade Commission posthearing, which involves the import of stainless steel from China. The import hearings come as the result of petitions filed with the ITC by the United Steelworkers Union regarding the price of truck and bus tires imported from China.

The USW alleges that China has been engaged in unfair trade practices by dumping tires in the U.S. market whose cost is subsidized by the Chinese government and bear prices below their U.S. value.

Husch Blackwell plans to arrange meetings between the CCPIT and members of Congress or their staff in a bid to educate them on issues pertaining to the stainless steel trade. Husch Blackwell may also coordinate letters written by CCPIT members to the lTC in an attempt to discuss U.S / China stainless steel trade policies.

The pact was signed by Husch Blackwell partner Kyle J. Gilster, who served as counsel on the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee for Chair Mike Oxley (R-OH) and was also previously legislative assistant to Rep. Doug Bereuter (R-NE).

Husch Blackwell will bill CCPIT hourly for the work. The firm, which maintains 19 offices in the U.S. and London, represents leaders in the energy, financial, agribusiness, healthcare, tech, education and manufacturing industries.