	 interests ready for fight in u s congress u s lawmakers are gearing up for a showdown between protectionists and free rs as a major  bill winds its way through committees to a vote by the full house of representatives in late april in a move to toughen u s enforcement of  laws a key house subcommittee last week approved a toned down version of legislation to require president reagan to retaliate against foreign countries that follow unfair  practices this bill will be the cornerstone of congressional efforts to restore competitiveness of american industries and turn around last year s record billion dlrs  deficit several lawmakers have argued the new  bill made too many concessions to reagan and said they intend to back amendments to get tough with countries that violate  agreements or keep out u s products on the other hand congressmen known for their allegiance to free  said the bill ties reagan s hands too much in  disputes and they will seek to restore his negotiating powers republican bill frenzel of michigan said the subcommittee s bill was not one that a free r like me could endorse in all respects but he emphasized there was a consensus among  lawmakers to work toward a bill reagan and republicans would ultimately endorse frenzel said the goal of  legislation was to make our  policy stronger without violating our international  agreements you ll find a lot of people who think we have not done the former enough you ll find poeple who think we haven t avoided violating agreements in a key concession made at the urging of the powerful chairman of the house ways and means committee the  subcommittee backed off a requirement that would have forced reagan to automatically impose quotas or tariffs on imports from countries that engage in unfair  practices it also agreed he may waive any retaliation if it would hurt the u s economy ways and means chairman dan rostenkowski an illinois democrat insisted the more moderate approach was necessary if the house wanted to pass a bill reagan would sign into law reagan last year had blocked senate consideration of a tough house  bill he branded as protectionist and this year only reluctantly agreed to support a  bill when he saw democratic leaders were determined to pass a bill as an indication of his success white house spokesman marlin fitzwater told reporters friday the administration still did not like some provisions but he added generally we feel very good about the bipartisan consideration of the  legislation i think we are progressing very well the first battle will take place next week when the full house ways and means committee considers an amendment by rep richard gephardt a missouri democrat to force countries such as japan south korea and taiwan to cut their  surpluses with the united states the subcommittee limited the gephardt plan to provide only that the existence of a large  surplus with the united states will trigger an investigation of unfair  practices but would not automatically set off retaliation rep phil crane an illinois republican and staunch free r said he will try to further weaken the gephardt plan organized labor has pressed lawmakers for more relief from imports where jobs have been lost to foreign competition afl cio president lane kirkland this year angered the administration in a statement that any  bill reagan would sign would not be worth passage in congress but rostenkowski set the tone of the  debate in a statement i m not trying to write legislation to please lane kirkland i m trying to write legislation that will be signed by the president in writing the bill the subcommittee rejected calls for  relief for specific industries such as textiles rep ed jenkins a democrat from georgia agreed to hold off his fight he intends to push separately a bill to protect the domestic textile and shoe industry an aide said reagan vetoed a similar measure last year house speaker jim wright a texas democrat is one of the most influential proponents of aid for specific industries beset by low priced foreign competition wright thursday renewed his call for import relief for the domestic oil industry and announced his support for a senate plan to trigger a temporary oil import tariff when imports reach half of domestic consumption for the most part the  bill s provisions toughen u s enforcement of  laws the bill forces the administration to act rapidly on complaints of unfair  practices such as dumping products in the united states at prices below the cost of production it also forces the administration to act rapidly when an industry complains that a surge in imports threatens its existence congressmen said the change would have required the u s international  commission to impose limits on car imports in reuter 
