	 interests ready for battle in u s house 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 the bill will be the cornerstone of congressional efforts to restore competitiveness of american industries and turn around last year s record billion dlrs  deficit generally 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 cost of production it also forces the administration to act rapidly when an industry complains that a surge in imports threatens its existence in writing the bill the subcommittee rejected calls for  relief for specific industries such as textiles 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 but 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 bill frenzel r mi 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 the goal of  legislation was to make our  policy stronger without violating our international  agreements he said in a key concession made at the urging of ways and means committee chairman dan rostenkowski d il the  subcommittee backed off a requirement that would have forced reagan to impose automatically quotas or tariffs on imports from countries that engage in unfair  practices it also agreed the president may waive any retaliation if it would hurt the u s economy rostenkowski insisted the more moderate approach was necessary if the house wanted to pass a bill reagan would sign into law reagan last year blocked senate consideration of a tough house  bill he branded as protectionist and this year he only reluctantly agreed to support a  bill when he saw democratic leaders were determined to pass such legislation white house spokesman marlin fitzwater told reporters late last week that the administration still did not like some of the bill s 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 d mo to force countries like japan south korea and taiwan to cut their  surpluses with the u s 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 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 when he said any  bill reagan would sign would not be worth passage in congress but rostenkowski set the tone of the  debate by saying i m not trying to write legislation to please lane kirkland i m trying to write legislation that will be signed by the president rep ed jenkins d ga 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 of texas one of the most influential proponents of aid for specific industries beset by low priced foreign competition last week 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 reuter 
