Senate Bill No. 414
(By Senators Bowman, Kessler, Edgell, McKenzie, Unger and
Plymale)
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[Introduced March 6, 2001; referred to the Select Committee on
Economic Development.]
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A BILL to amend article eleven-a, chapter forty-seven of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fifteen, relating to unfair trade practices; and making it
unlawful to injure a person by importing or selling articles
in the United States below market value or wholesale price in
the country of production or other foreign countries to which
the articles are commonly exported.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article eleven-a, chapter forty-seven of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
fifteen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 11A. UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES.
§47-11A-15. Injuring another by importing or selling imported
articles at below foreign market value or wholesale
price prohibited; cause of action provided.
(a) It is unlawful for any person, partnership, firm,
corporation, joint stock company, or other entity to injure a
person in this state by commonly and systematically importing,
selling, or causing to be imported or sold articles within the
United States at a price substantially less than the actual market
value or wholesale price of the articles, at the time of
exportation to the United States, in the principal markets of the
country of production, or of other foreign countries to which they
are commonly exported, after adding to the market value or
wholesale price, freight, duty and other charges and expenses
necessarily incident to the importation and sale thereof in the
United States.
(b) A determination or finding by the United States
International Trade Commission, pursuant to Section 705(b) of the
Tariff Act of 1930, codified at 19 U.S.C. 1671d(b), that an
industry in the United States is materially injured shall be conclusive evidence of injury and a violation of this section.
(c) In addition to criminal penalties as provided in section
eleven of this article, any person who is a resident, employee, or
otherwise doing business within this state, injured in business or
property by reason of any violation of or conspiracy to violate
this section, may institute an action in the circuit courts of this
state, in the county in which the injured party resides or in which
the injury is alleged to have occurred, for injunctive relief and
damages as provided in section nine of this article, and for costs
and reasonable attorney fees.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide a cause of
action for injunctive relief, damages, costs and attorney fees for
a person residing, working or doing business in the state and who
is injured by the unlawful importation or sale in this country of
foreign-made products below the value of the articles in foreign
countries. Violators would also be subject to misdemeanor
penalties provided by the state's Unfair Trade Practices Act.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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