Collapse to view only § 4201. Trade negotiating objectives
- § 4201. Trade negotiating objectives
- § 4202. Trade agreements authority
- § 4203. Congressional oversight, consultations, and access to information
- § 4204. Notice, consultations, and reports
- § 4205. Implementation of trade agreements
- § 4206. Treatment of certain trade agreements for which negotiations have already begun
- § 4207. Sovereignty
- § 4208. Interests of small businesses
- § 4209. Application of certain provisions
- § 4210. Definitions
The principal negotiating objective of the United States with respect to localization barriers is to eliminate and prevent measures that require United States producers and service providers to locate facilities, intellectual property, or other assets in a country as a market access or investment condition, including indigenous innovation measures.
The principal negotiating objective of the United States with respect to currency practices is that parties to a trade agreement with the United States avoid manipulating exchange rates in order to prevent effective balance of payments adjustment or to gain an unfair competitive advantage over other parties to the agreement, such as through cooperative mechanisms, enforceable rules, reporting, monitoring, transparency, or other means, as appropriate.
The principal negotiating objective of the United States with respect to unfair currency practices is to seek to establish accountability through enforceable rules, transparency, reporting, monitoring, cooperative mechanisms, or other means to address exchange rate manipulation involving protracted large scale intervention in one direction in the exchange markets and a persistently undervalued foreign exchange rate to gain an unfair competitive advantage in trade over other parties to a trade agreement, consistent with existing obligations of the United States as a member of the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization.
The principal negotiating objective of the United States regarding border taxes is to obtain a revision of the rules of the World Trade Organization with respect to the treatment of border adjustments for internal taxes to redress the disadvantage to countries relying primarily on direct taxes for revenue rather than indirect taxes.
The principal negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to trade in textiles and apparel articles are to obtain competitive opportunities for United States exports of textiles and apparel in foreign markets substantially equivalent to the competitive opportunities afforded foreign exports in United States markets and to achieve fairer and more open conditions of trade in textiles and apparel.
In this paragraph, the term “actions to boycott, divest from, or sanction Israel” means actions by states, non-member states of the United Nations, international organizations, or affiliated agencies of international organizations that are politically motivated and are intended to penalize or otherwise limit commercial relations specifically with Israel or persons doing business in Israel or in Israeli-controlled territories.
The principal negotiating objectives of the United States with respect to ensuring implementation of trade commitments and obligations by strengthening good governance, transparency, the effective operation of legal regimes and the rule of law of trading partners of the United States is through capacity building and other appropriate means, which are important parts of the broader effort to create more open democratic societies and to promote respect for internationally recognized human rights.
The President shall notify Congress of the President’s intention to enter into an agreement under this subsection.
No staging is required under subparagraph (A) with respect to a duty reduction that is proclaimed under paragraph (1) for an article of a kind that is not produced in the United States. The United States International Trade Commission shall advise the President of the identity of articles that may be exempted from staging under this subparagraph.
A rate of duty reduction that may not be proclaimed by reason of paragraph (3) may take effect only if a provision authorizing such reduction is included within an implementing bill provided for under section 4205 of this title and that bill is enacted into law.
Notwithstanding paragraphs (1)(B), (3)(A), (3)(C), and (4) through (6), and subject to the consultation and layover requirements of section 115 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3524), the President may proclaim the modification of any duty or staged rate reduction of any duty set forth in Schedule XX, as defined in section 2(5) of that Act (19 U.S.C. 3501(5)), if the United States agrees to such modification or staged rate reduction in a negotiation for the reciprocal elimination or harmonization of duties under the auspices of the World Trade Organization.
Nothing in this subsection shall limit the authority provided to the President under section 111(b) of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3521(b)).
A trade agreement may be entered into under this subsection only if such agreement makes progress in meeting the applicable objectives described in subsections (a) and (b) of section 4201 of this title and the President satisfies the conditions set forth in sections 4203 and 4204 of this title.
The President shall promptly inform the United States International Trade Commission of the decision of the President to submit a report to Congress under paragraph (2). The International Trade Commission shall submit to Congress as soon as practicable, but not later than June 1, 2018, a written report that contains a review and analysis of the economic impact on the United States of all trade agreements implemented between June 29, 2015, and the date on which the President decides to seek an extension requested under paragraph (2).
The reports submitted to Congress under paragraphs (2) and (3), or any portion of such reports, may be classified to the extent the President determines appropriate.
In order to contribute to the continued economic expansion of the United States, the President shall commence negotiations covering tariff and nontariff barriers affecting any industry, product, or service sector, and expand existing sectoral agreements to countries that are not parties to those agreements, in cases where the President determines that such negotiations are feasible and timely and would benefit the United States. Such sectors include agriculture, commercial services, intellectual property rights, industrial and capital goods, government procurement, information technology products, environmental technology and services, medical equipment and services, civil aircraft, and infrastructure products. In so doing, the President shall take into account all of the negotiating objectives set forth in section 4201 of this title.
Prior to exchanging notes providing for the entry into force of a trade agreement, the United States Trade Representative shall consult closely and on a timely basis with Members of Congress and committees as specified in paragraph (1), and keep them fully apprised of the measures a trading partner has taken to comply with those provisions of the agreement that are to take effect on the date that the agreement enters into force.
The United States Trade Representative shall disseminate the guidelines developed under subparagraph (A) to all Federal agencies that could have jurisdiction over laws affected by trade negotiations.
In each Congress, any Member of the Senate may be designated as a congressional adviser on trade policy and negotiations by the President pro tempore of the Senate, after consultation with the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Finance and the chairman and ranking member of the committee from which the Member will be selected.
In the course of negotiations conducted under this chapter, the United States Trade Representative shall consult closely and on a timely basis (including immediately before initialing an agreement) with, and keep fully apprised of the negotiations, the congressional advisers for trade policy and negotiations designated under paragraph (1).
Each Member of Congress designated as a congressional adviser under paragraph (1) shall be accredited by the United States Trade Representative on behalf of the President as a delegate and official adviser to the United States delegations to international conferences, meetings, and negotiating sessions relating to trade agreements.
By not later than 60 days after June 29, 2015, and not later than 30 days after the convening of each Congress, the chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives shall convene the House Advisory Group on Negotiations and the chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate shall convene the Senate Advisory Group on Negotiations (in this subsection referred to collectively as the “congressional advisory groups”).
Each member of the congressional advisory groups described in subparagraphs (A)(i) and (B)(i) shall be accredited by the United States Trade Representative on behalf of the President as a delegate and official adviser to the United States delegation in negotiations for any trade agreement to which this chapter applies. In addition, the chairmen and ranking members described in subparagraphs (A)(i) and (B)(i) shall each be permitted to designate up to 3 personnel with proper security clearances to serve as delegates and official advisers to the United States delegation in negotiations for any trade agreement to which this chapter applies. Each member of the congressional advisory groups described in subparagraphs (A)(ii) and (B)(ii) shall be accredited by the United States Trade Representative on behalf of the President as a delegate and official adviser to the United States delegation in the negotiations by reason of which the member is in one of the congressional advisory groups.
The congressional advisory groups shall consult with and provide advice to the Trade Representative regarding the formulation of specific objectives, negotiating strategies and positions, the development of the applicable trade agreement, and compliance and enforcement of the negotiated commitments under the trade agreement.
The House Advisory Group on Negotiations shall be chaired by the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Senate Advisory Group on Negotiations shall be chaired by the Chairman of the Committee on Finance of the Senate.
Members of any committee represented on one of the congressional advisory groups may submit comments to the member of the appropriate congressional advisory group from that committee regarding any matter related to a negotiation for any trade agreement to which this chapter applies.
Upon the request of a majority of either of the congressional advisory groups, the President shall meet with that congressional advisory group before initiating negotiations with respect to a trade agreement, or at any other time concerning the negotiations.
The United States Trade Representative shall disseminate the guidelines developed under paragraph (1) to all Federal agencies that could have jurisdiction over laws affected by trade negotiations.
The United States Trade Representative shall disseminate the guidelines developed under paragraph (1) to all Federal agencies that could have jurisdiction over laws affected by trade negotiations.
Before initiating, or continuing, negotiations that directly relate to fish or shellfish trade with any country, the President shall consult with the Committee on Ways and Means and the Committee on Natural Resources of the House of Representatives, and the Committee on Finance and the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, and shall keep the Committees apprised of the negotiations on an ongoing and timely basis.
In determining whether to enter into negotiations with a particular country, the President shall take into account the extent to which that country has implemented, or has accelerated the implementation of, its international trade and investment commitments to the United States, including pursuant to the WTO Agreement.
The report required under section 135(e)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2155(e)(1)) regarding any trade agreement entered into under subsection (a) or (b) of section 4202 of this title shall be provided to the President, Congress, and the United States Trade Representative not later than 30 days after the date on which the President notifies Congress under section 4202(a)(2) or 4205(a)(1)(A) of this title of the intention of the President to enter into the agreement.
The President, not later than 90 calendar days before the day on which the President enters into a trade agreement under section 4202(b) of this title, shall provide the International Trade Commission (referred to in this subsection as the “Commission”) with the details of the agreement as it exists at that time and request the Commission to prepare and submit an assessment of the agreement as described in paragraph (2). Between the time the President makes the request under this paragraph and the time the Commission submits the assessment, the President shall keep the Commission current with respect to the details of the agreement.
Not later than 105 calendar days after the President enters into a trade agreement under section 4202(b) of this title, the Commission shall submit to the President and Congress a report assessing the likely impact of the agreement on the United States economy as a whole and on specific industry sectors, including the impact the agreement will have on the gross domestic product, exports and imports, aggregate employment and employment opportunities, the production, employment, and competitive position of industries likely to be significantly affected by the agreement, and the interests of United States consumers.
In preparing the assessment under paragraph (2), the Commission shall review available economic assessments regarding the agreement, including literature regarding any substantially equivalent proposed agreement, and shall provide in its assessment a description of the analyses used and conclusions drawn in such literature, and a discussion of areas of consensus and divergence between the various analyses and conclusions, including those of the Commission regarding the agreement.
The President shall make each assessment under paragraph (2) available to the public.
The President shall make all reports required under this subsection available to the public.
At the time the President submits to Congress a copy of the final legal text of an agreement pursuant to section 4205(a)(1)(E) of this title, the President shall also submit to Congress a plan for implementing and enforcing the agreement.
A description of additional personnel required at border entry points, including a list of additional customs and agricultural inspectors.
A description of additional personnel required by Federal agencies responsible for monitoring and implementing the trade agreement, including personnel required by the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Agriculture (including additional personnel required to implement sanitary and phytosanitary measures in order to obtain market access for United States exports), the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of the Treasury, and such other agencies as may be necessary.
A description of the additional equipment and facilities needed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A description of the impact the trade agreement will have on State and local governments as a result of increases in trade.
An analysis of the costs associated with each of the items listed in subparagraphs (A) through (D).
The President shall include a request for the resources necessary to support the plan required by paragraph (1) in the first budget of the President submitted to Congress under section 1105(a) of title 31 after the date of the submission of the plan.
The President shall make the plan required under this subsection available to the public.
Not later than one year after the imposition by the United States of a penalty or remedy permitted by a trade agreement to which this chapter applies, the President shall submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Finance of the Senate a report on the effectiveness of the penalty or remedy applied under United States law in enforcing United States rights under the trade agreement, which shall address whether the penalty or remedy was effective in changing the behavior of the targeted party and whether the penalty or remedy had any adverse impact on parties or interests not party to the dispute.
Not later than one year after June 29, 2015
Any Member of the House of Representatives may submit to the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives and any Member of the Senate may submit to the Committee on Finance of the Senate the views of that Member on any matter relevant to a proposed trade agreement, and the relevant Committee shall receive those views for consideration.
The President shall make the supporting information described in subparagraph (A) available to the public.
In order to ensure that a foreign country that is not a party to a trade agreement entered into under section 4202(b) of this title does not receive benefits under the agreement unless the country is also subject to the obligations under the agreement, the implementing bill submitted with respect to the agreement shall provide that the benefits and obligations under the agreement apply only to the parties to the agreement, if such application is consistent with the terms of the agreement. The implementing bill may also provide that the benefits and obligations under the agreement do not apply uniformly to all parties to the agreement, if such application is consistent with the terms of the agreement.
The trade authorities procedures shall not apply to any implementing bill submitted with respect to a trade agreement or trade agreements entered into under section 4202(b) of this title if during the 60-day period beginning on the date that one House of Congress agrees to a procedural disapproval resolution for lack of notice or consultations with respect to such trade agreement or agreements, the other House separately agrees to a procedural disapproval resolution with respect to such trade agreement or agreements.
If, when the Committee on Finance of the Senate meets on whether to report an implementing bill with respect to a trade agreement or agreements entered into under section 4202(b) of this title, the committee fails to favorably report the bill, the committee shall report a resolution described in subparagraph (C).
The trade authorities procedures shall not apply in the Senate to any implementing bill submitted with respect to a trade agreement or agreements described in subparagraph (A) if the Committee on Finance reports a resolution described in subparagraph (C) and such resolution is agreed to by the Senate.
A resolution described in this subparagraph is a resolution of the Senate originating from the Committee on Finance the sole matter after the resolving clause of which is as follows: “That the President has failed or refused to notify or consult in accordance with the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 on negotiations with respect to _____ and, therefore, the trade authorities procedures under that Act shall not apply in the Senate to any implementing bill submitted with respect to such trade agreement or agreements.”, with the blank space being filled with a description of the trade agreement or agreements described in subparagraph (A).
If the Senate does not agree to a motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to a resolution described in subparagraph (C), the resolution shall be committed to the Committee on Finance.
The trade authorities procedures shall not apply in the House of Representatives to any implementing bill submitted with respect to a trade agreement or agreements which are the object of a consultation and compliance resolution if such resolution is adopted by the House.
Not later than December 15, 2015, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Attorney General, and the United States Trade Representative, shall transmit to Congress a report setting forth the strategy of the executive branch to address concerns of Congress regarding whether dispute settlement panels and the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization have added to obligations, or diminished rights, of the United States, as described in section 4201(b)(16)(C) of this title. Trade authorities procedures shall not apply to any implementing bill with respect to an agreement negotiated under the auspices of the World Trade Organization unless the Secretary of Commerce has issued such report by the deadline specified in this paragraph.
The trade authorities procedures shall not apply to any implementing bill submitted with respect to a trade agreement or trade agreements entered into under section 4202(b) of this title with a country listed as a tier 3 country in the most recent annual report on trafficking in persons.
If the President submits to the appropriate congressional committees a letter stating that a country to which subparagraph (A) applies has taken concrete actions to implement the principal recommendations with respect to that country in the most recent annual report on trafficking in persons, the prohibition under subparagraph (A) shall not apply with respect to a trade agreement or trade agreements with that country.
It is the sense of Congress that the integrity of the process for making the determinations in the annual report on trafficking in persons, including determinations with respect to country rankings and the substance of the assessments in the report, should be respected and not affected by unrelated considerations.
The term “annual report on trafficking in persons” means the annual report on trafficking in persons required under section 110(b)(1) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)).
The term “tier 2 watch list” means the list of countries required under section 110(b)(2)(A)(iii) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(2)(A)(iii)).
The term “tier 3 country” means a country on the list of countries required under section 110(b)(1)(C) of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)(C)).
Notwithstanding the notification requirement described in section 4202(a)(2) of this title, the President may exercise the proclamation authority provided for in section 4202(a)(1)(B) of this title to implement an agreement by members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to reduce any rate of duty on certain environmental goods included in Annex C of the APEC Leaders Declaration issued on September 9, 2012, if (and only if) the President, as soon as feasible after February 24, 2016, and before exercising proclamation authority under section 4202(a)(1)(B) of this title, notifies Congress of the negotiations relating to the agreement and the specific United States objectives in the negotiations.
Notwithstanding the notification requirement described in section 4202(a)(2) of this title, the President may exercise the proclamation authority provided for in section 4202(a)(1)(B) of this title to implement an agreement by members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) to reduce any rate of duty on certain environmental goods included in Annex C of the APEC Leaders Declaration issued on September 9, 2012, if (and only if) the President, as soon as feasible after February 24, 2016, and before exercising proclamation authority under section 4202(a)(1)(B) of this title, notifies Congress of the negotiations relating to the agreement and the specific United States objectives in the negotiations.
No provision of any trade agreement entered into under section 4202(b) of this title, nor the application of any such provision to any person or circumstance, that is inconsistent with any law of the United States, any State of the United States, or any locality of the United States shall have effect.
No provision of any trade agreement entered into under section 4202(b) of this title shall prevent the United States, any State of the United States, or any locality of the United States from amending or modifying any law of the United States, that State, or that locality (as the case may be).
Reports, including findings and recommendations, issued by dispute settlement panels convened pursuant to any trade agreement entered into under section 4202(b) of this title shall have no binding effect on the law of the United States, the Government of the United States, or the law or government of any State or locality of the United States.
The Assistant United States Trade Representative for Small Business, Market Access, and Industrial Competitiveness shall be responsible for ensuring that the interests of small businesses are considered in all trade negotiations in accordance with the objective described in section 4201(a)(8) of this title.
The term “Agreement on Agriculture” means the agreement referred to in section 3511(d)(2) of this title.
The term “Agreement on Safeguards” means the agreement referred to in section 3511(d)(13) of this title.
The term “Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures” means the agreement referred to in section 3511(d)(12) of this title.
The term “Antidumping Agreement” means the Agreement on Implementation of Article VI of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1994 referred to in section 3511(d)(7) of this title.
The term “Appellate Body” means the Appellate Body established under Article 17.1 of the Dispute Settlement Understanding.
The term “common multilateral environmental agreement” means any agreement specified in subparagraph (B) or included under subparagraph (C) to which both the United States and one or more other parties to the negotiations are full parties, including any current or future mutually agreed upon protocols, amendments, annexes, or adjustments to such an agreement.
Both the United States and one or more other parties to the negotiations may agree to include any other multilateral environmental or conservation agreement to which they are full parties as a common multilateral environmental agreement under this paragraph.
The term “Dispute Settlement Understanding” means the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes referred to in section 3511(d)(16) of this title.
The term “Enabling Clause” means the Decision on Differential and More Favourable Treatment, Reciprocity and Fuller Participation of Developing Countries (L/4903), adopted November 28, 1979, under GATT 1947 (as defined in section 3501 of this title).
The term “environmental laws”, with respect to the laws of the United States, means environmental statutes and regulations enforceable by action of the Federal Government.
The term “GATT 1994” has the meaning given that term in section 3501 of this title.
The term “General Agreement on Trade in Services” means the General Agreement on Trade in Services (referred to in section 3511(d)(14) of this title).
The term “Government Procurement Agreement” means the Agreement on Government Procurement referred to in section 3511(d)(17) of this title.
The term “ILO” means the International Labor Organization.
The term “Information Technology Agreement” means the Ministerial Declaration on Trade in Information Technology Products of the World Trade Organization, agreed to at Singapore December 13, 1996.
The term “internationally recognized core labor standards” means the core labor standards only as stated in the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-Up (1998).
The term “labor laws” means the statutes and regulations, or provisions thereof, of a party to the negotiations that are directly related to core labor standards as well as other labor protections for children and minors and acceptable conditions of work with respect to minimum wages, hours of work, and occupational safety and health, and for the United States, includes Federal statutes and regulations addressing those standards, protections, or conditions, but does not include State or local labor laws.
The term “Uruguay Round Agreements” has the meaning given that term in section 3501(7) of this title.
The terms “World Trade Organization” and “WTO” mean the organization established pursuant to the WTO Agreement.
The term “WTO Agreement” means the Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization entered into on April 15, 1994.
The term “WTO member” has the meaning given that term in section 3501(10) of this title.