Trade Security Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 746 To amend section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to require the Secretary of Defense to initiate investigations and to provide for congressional disapproval of certain actions, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 15, 2021 Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. ERNST, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. WICKER, and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To amend section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to require the Secretary of Defense to initiate investiga- tions and to provide for congressional disapproval of certain actions, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Trade Security Act 4 of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:10 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S746.IS S746 2 •S 746 IS SEC. 2. INVESTIGATIONS TO DETERMINE EFFECTS ON NA- 1 TIONAL SECURITY OF IMPORTS OF ARTICLES 2 AND CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF PRESI- 3 DENTIAL ACTIONS. 4 (a) INVESTIGATIONS AND DETERMINATIONS BY SEC- 5 RETARY OF DEFENSE.—Section 232 of the Trade Expan- 6 sion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862) is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (b)— 8 (A) in paragraph (1)— 9 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 10 ‘‘Secretary of Commerce’’ and all that fol- 11 lows through ‘‘ ‘Secretary’)’’ and inserting 12 ‘‘Secretary of Defense’’; and 13 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 14 (I) by striking ‘‘Secretary shall’’ 15 and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Defense 16 shall’’; and 17 (II) by striking ‘‘Secretary of De- 18 fense of’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 19 Commerce of’’; 20 (B) in paragraph (2)— 21 (i) by striking subparagraph (B); 22 (ii) in the matter preceding clause 23 (i)— 24 (I) by striking ‘‘(A) In’’ and in- 25 serting ‘‘In’’; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:12 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S746.IS S746 3 •S 746 IS (II) by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ and 1 inserting ‘‘Secretary of Defense’’; and 2 (iii) by striking clauses (i) through 3 (iii) and inserting the following: 4 ‘‘(A) consult with the Secretary of Commerce 5 regarding the methodological and policy questions 6 raised in any investigation initiated under paragraph 7 (1); 8 ‘‘(B) prepare an assessment of the defense re- 9 quirements and national security impact of any arti- 10 cle that is the subject of an investigation, which 11 shall focus on— 12 ‘‘(i) the impact of the importation of the 13 article on military readiness and critical infra- 14 structure; and 15 ‘‘(ii) the need for a reliable supply of the 16 article to protect national security; 17 ‘‘(C) seek information and advice from the Sec- 18 retary of Commerce; 19 ‘‘(D) consult with appropriate officers of the 20 United States; 21 ‘‘(E) consult with members of the Committee 22 on Finance of the Senate and members of the Com- 23 mittee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep- 24 resentatives; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:12 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S746.IS S746 4 •S 746 IS ‘‘(F) hold public hearings, co-chaired with the 1 Secretary of Commerce, or otherwise afford inter- 2 ested parties an opportunity to present information 3 and advice relevant to such investigation.’’; 4 (C) by striking paragraph (3) and insert- 5 ing the following: 6 ‘‘(3)(A) Not later than 200 days after the date on 7 which the Secretary of Defense initiates an investigation 8 under paragraph (1) with respect to an article, the Sec- 9 retary of Defense shall submit to the President a report 10 on the findings of such investigation with respect to the 11 effect of the importation of such article in such quantities 12 or under such circumstances on the national security of 13 the United States. 14 ‘‘(B) If the report described in subparagraph (A) in- 15 cludes an affirmative finding that the importation of an 16 article in such quantities or under such circumstances 17 threatens to impair the national security, the President 18 may direct the Secretary of Commerce to devise rec- 19 ommendations to address such threat. 20 ‘‘(C) Not later than 100 days after receiving from 21 the President under subparagraph (B) a direction to de- 22 vise recommendations with respect to an article, the Sec- 23 retary of Commerce, in consultation with the United 24 States Trade Representative, the Secretary of Defense, 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:12 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S746.IS S746 5 •S 746 IS members of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, and 1 members of the Committee on Ways and Means of the 2 House of Representatives, shall submit to the President 3 a report that includes— 4 ‘‘(i) recommendations for action or inaction 5 under this section with respect to the article; and 6 ‘‘(ii) the findings of the Secretary of Commerce 7 with respect to the investigation by the Secretary of 8 Defense under paragraph (1). 9 ‘‘(D) Any portion of the report submitted by the Sec- 10 retary of Defense under subparagraph (A) or the report 11 submitted by the Secretary of Commerce under subpara- 12 graph (C) that does not contain classified information or 13 proprietary information shall be published in the Federal 14 Register.’’; and 15 (D) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘of De- 16 fense, in consultation with the Secretary of 17 Commerce,’’ after ‘‘The Secretary’’; 18 (2) in subsection (c)(1), by striking subpara- 19 graph (A) and inserting the following: 20 ‘‘(A) Not later than 60 days after receiving rec- 21 ommendations submitted under subsection (b)(3)(C)(i) 22 with respect to an article, the President shall— 23 ‘‘(i) decide whether to take action based on 24 such recommendations; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:10 Apr 09, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S746.IS S746 6 •S 746 IS ‘‘(ii) if the President decides to take action 1 under clause (i), determine the nature and duration 2 of the action to be taken to adjust the imports of the 3 article and its derivatives so that such imports will 4 not threaten to impair the national security.’’; 5 (3) by redesignating the second subsection (d) 6 as subsection (e); 7 (4) in subsection (d)— 8 (A) by striking ‘‘the Secretary and the 9 President’’ each place it appears and inserting 10 ‘‘the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 11 Commerce, and the President’’; and 12 (B) by inserting ‘‘, the production of which 13 is needed for national defense requirements and 14 critical infrastructure in the United States’’ 15 after ‘‘welfare of individual domestic indus- 16 tries’’; and 17 (5) in subsection (e)(1), as redesignated by 18 paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ and inserting 19 ‘‘Secretary of Defense’’. 20 (b) CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF PRESI- 21 DENTIAL ACTION.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 232(f) of the Trade 23 Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862(f)) is 24 amended— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:12 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S746.IS S746 7 •S 746 IS (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘of pe- 1 troleum, or petroleum products’’; and 2 (B) in paragraph (2)(B)— 3 (i) by striking ‘‘petroleum imports’’ 4 and inserting ‘‘imports’’; and 5 (ii) by striking ‘‘of petroleum or pe- 6 troleum products’’. 7 (2) APPLICABILITY.— 8 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 9 subparagraph (B), subsection (f) of section 232 10 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 11 1862), as amended by paragraph (1), shall 12 apply to adjustments of imports under that sec- 13 tion on or after July 1, 2018. 14 (B) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (f) of section 15 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 16 U.S.C. 1862), as amended by paragraph (1), 17 shall not apply to the presidential actions taken 18 under that section on March 8, 2018, relating 19 to the adjustment of imports of steel and alu- 20 minum, or any subsequent actions (including 21 proclamations, Executive orders, or other Exec- 22 utive acts) relating to those presidential actions. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:12 Apr 08, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S746.IS S746