To amend title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 to provide that the provisions relating to countervailing duties apply to nonmarket economy countries.

H.R. 1216 is a bill designed to allow the U.S. government to impose "countervailing duties"—special import taxes—on goods coming from nonmarket economy countries, such as China, if those goods are found to be unfairly subsidized by their home governments. At the time of its introduction, federal law generally exempted these types of economies from such duties because of the difficulty in calculating government subsidies in a non-competitive market. For everyday citizens, this legislation aims to protect domestic manufacturers and workers by creating a more level playing field against foreign products that are sold at artificially low prices due to government intervention.