Countering Economic Coercion Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1135 To grant certain authorities to the President to combat economic coercion by foreign adversaries, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 21, 2023 Mr. MEEKS (for himself, Mr. COLE, and Mr. BERA) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in ad- dition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Financial Services, and Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To grant certain authorities to the President to combat eco- nomic coercion by foreign adversaries, and for other pur- poses. 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 ‘‘Countering Economic 4 Coercion Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1135 IH (1) Foreign adversaries are increasingly using 1 economic coercion to pressure, punish, and influence 2 United States allies and partners. 3 (2) Economic coercion causes economic harm to 4 United States allies and partners and creates malign 5 influence on the sovereign political actions of such 6 allies and partners. 7 (3) Economic coercion can threaten the essen- 8 tial security of the United States and its allies. 9 (4) Economic coercion is often characterized 10 by— 11 (A) capricious, pre-textual, and non-trans- 12 parent actions taken without due process af- 13 forded; 14 (B) intimidation or threats of punitive ac- 15 tions; and 16 (C) informal actions that take place with- 17 out explicit government action. 18 (5) Existing mechanisms for trade dispute reso- 19 lution and international arbitration are inadequate 20 for responding to economic coercion in a timely and 21 effective manner as foreign adversaries exploit plau- 22 sible deniability and lengthy processes to evade ac- 23 countability. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1135 IH (6) The United States should provide meaning- 1 ful economic and political support to allies and part- 2 ners affected by economic coercion. 3 (7) Supporting foreign trading partners af- 4 fected by economic coercion can lead to opportunities 5 for United States businesses, investors, and workers 6 to reach new markets and customers. 7 (8) Responding to economic coercion will be 8 most effective when the United States provides relief 9 to affected foreign trading partners in coordination 10 with allies and like-minded countries. 11 (9) Such coordination will further demonstrate 12 broad resolve against economic coercion. 13 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE INTERNATIONAL EMERGENCY 14 ECONOMIC POWERS ACT. 15 The International Emergency Economic Powers Act 16 (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 17 the following: 18 ‘‘SEC. 209. AUTHORITIES TO COMBAT ECONOMIC COERCION 19 BY FOREIGN ADVERSARIES. 20 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 21 ‘‘(1) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMIT- 22 TEES.—The term ‘appropriate congressional com- 23 mittees’— 24 ‘‘(A) means— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1135 IH ‘‘(i) the Committee on Foreign Rela- 1 tions of the Senate; and 2 ‘‘(ii) the Committee on Foreign Af- 3 fairs of the House of Representatives; and 4 ‘‘(B) includes— 5 ‘‘(i) with respect to the exercise of any 6 authority under subsection (c)(1)(A), 7 (c)(1)(D), or (c)(2)— 8 ‘‘(I) the Committee on Finance 9 of the Senate; and 10 ‘‘(II) the Committee on Ways 11 and Means of the House of Rep- 12 resentatives; and 13 ‘‘(ii) with respect to the exercise of 14 any authority under subsection (c)(1)(B) 15 or (b)(1)(G)— 16 ‘‘(I) the Committee on Appro- 17 priations of the Senate; and 18 ‘‘(II) the Committee on Appro- 19 priations of the House of Representa- 20 tives; and 21 ‘‘(iii) with respect to the exercise of 22 any authority under subparagraphs (F) or 23 (H) of subsection (c)(1)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1135 IH ‘‘(I) the Committee on Banking, 1 Housing, and Urban Affairs of the 2 Senate; and 3 ‘‘(II) the Committee on Financial 4 Services of the House of Representa- 5 tives. 6 ‘‘(2) ECONOMIC COERCION.—The term ‘eco- 7 nomic coercion’ means actions, practices, or threats 8 undertaken by a foreign adversary to unreasonably 9 restrain, obstruct, or manipulate trade, foreign aid, 10 investment, or commerce in an arbitrary, capricious, 11 or non-transparent manner with the intention to 12 cause economic harm to achieve strategic political 13 objectives or influence sovereign political actions. 14 ‘‘(3) EXPORT; EXPORT ADMINISTRATION REGU- 15 LATIONS; IN-COUNTRY TRANSFER; REEXPORT.—The 16 terms ‘export’, ‘Export Administration Regulations’, 17 ‘in-country transfer’, and ‘reexport’ have the mean- 18 ings given those terms in section 1742 of the Export 19 Control Reform Act of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801). 20 ‘‘(4) FOREIGN ADVERSARY.—The term ‘foreign 21 adversary’ has the meaning given that term in sec- 22 tion 8(c)(2) of the Secure and Trusted Communica- 23 tions Networks Act of 2019 (47 U.S.C. 1607(c)(2)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1135 IH ‘‘(5) FOREIGN TRADING PARTNER.—The term 1 ‘foreign trading partner’ means any partner or allied 2 jurisdiction that trades with the United States. 3 ‘‘(b) DETERMINATION OF ECONOMIC COERCION.— 4 ‘‘(1) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATION.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the President deter- 6 mines that a foreign trading partner is subject 7 to economic coercion by a foreign adversary, the 8 President may exercise, in a manner propor- 9 tionate to the economic coercion, any authority 10 described— 11 ‘‘(i) in subsection (c)(1) to support or 12 assist the foreign trading partner; or 13 ‘‘(ii) in subsection (c)(2) to penalize 14 the foreign adversary. 15 ‘‘(B) INFORMATION; HEARINGS.—To in- 16 form any determination or exercise of authority 17 under subparagraph (A), the President shall— 18 ‘‘(i) obtain the written opinion and 19 analysis of the Secretary of State, the Sec- 20 retary of Commerce, the Secretary of the 21 Treasury, the United States Trade Rep- 22 resentative, and the heads of other Federal 23 agencies, as the President considers appro- 24 priate; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1135 IH ‘‘(ii) seek information and advice from 1 and consult with other relevant officers of 2 the United States; and 3 ‘‘(iii) afford other interested parties 4 an opportunity to present relevant infor- 5 mation and advice. 6 ‘‘(C) CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS.— 7 The President shall consult with the appro- 8 priate congressional committees— 9 ‘‘(i) not later than 10 days before ex- 10 ercising any authority under this para- 11 graph; and 12 ‘‘(ii) not less frequently than once 13 every 180 days for the duration of the ex- 14 ercise of such authority. 15 ‘‘(D) NOTICE.—Not later than 30 days 16 after the date that the President determines 17 that a foreign trading partner is subject to eco- 18 nomic coercion or exercises any authority under 19 subparagraph (A), the President shall publish 20 in the Federal Register— 21 ‘‘(i) a notice of the determination or 22 exercise of authority; and 23 ‘‘(ii) a description of the economic co- 24 ercion that the foreign adversary is apply- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 1135 IH ing to the foreign trading partner and 1 other circumstances that led to such deter- 2 mination or exercise of authority. 3 ‘‘(2) EXPEDITED DETERMINATION.— 4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary of 5 State determines that a foreign trading partner 6 is subject to economic coercion by a foreign ad- 7 versary, the Secretary of State or the head of 8 the relevant Federal agency may exercise any 9 authority described in subparagraphs (B) 10 through (G) of subsection (c)(1). 11 ‘‘(B) NOTICES.— 12 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 10 13 days after a determination under subpara- 14 graph (A), the Secretary of State shall 15 submit to the appropriate congressional 16 committees a notice of such determination. 17 ‘‘(ii) EXERCISE OF AUTHORITY.—Not 18 later than 10 days after the exercise of any 19 authority described in subparagraphs (B) 20 through (G) of subsection (c)(1) that relies 21 on the determination for which the Sec- 22 retary of State submitted notice under 23 clause (i), the Secretary of State or the 24 head of the relevant Federal agency relying 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 1135 IH on such determination shall submit to the 1 appropriate congressional committees a no- 2 tice of intent to exercise such authority, 3 but not more frequently than once every 4 90 days. 5 ‘‘(3) REVOCATION OF DETERMINATION.— 6 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Any determination 7 made by the President under paragraph (1) or 8 Secretary of State under paragraph (2) shall be 9 revoked on the earliest of— 10 ‘‘(i) the date that is two years after 11 the date of such determination; 12 ‘‘(ii) the date of the enactment of a 13 joint resolution of disapproval revoking the 14 determination; or 15 ‘‘(iii) the date on which the President 16 issues a proclamation revoking the deter- 17 mination. 18 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITIES.— 19 Any authority described in subsection (c)(1) ex- 20 ercised pursuant to a determination that has 21 been revoked under subparagraph (A) shall 22 cease to be exercised on the date of such rev- 23 ocation, except that such revocation shall not 24 affect— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 1135 IH ‘‘(i) any action taken or proceeding 1 pending not finally concluded or deter- 2 mined on such date; or 3 ‘‘(ii) any rights or duties that ma- 4 tured or penalties that were incurred prior 5 to such date. 6 ‘‘(c) AUTHORITIES TO ASSIST FOREIGN TRADING 7 PARTNERS AFFECTED BY ECONOMIC COERCION.— 8 ‘‘(1) AUTHORITIES WITH RESPECT TO FOREIGN 9 TRADING PARTNERS.—The authorities described in 10 this subsection are the following: 11 ‘‘(A) Subject to subsection (e), with re- 12 spect to goods imported into the United States 13 from a foreign trading partner subject to eco- 14 nomic coercion by a foreign adversary— 15 ‘‘(i) the reduction or elimination of 16 duties; or 17 ‘‘(ii) the modification of tariff-rate 18 quotas. 19 ‘‘(B) Requesting appropriations for foreign 20 aid to the foreign trading partner. 21 ‘‘(C) Expedited decisions with respect to 22 the issuance of licenses for the export or reex- 23 port to, or in-country transfer in, the foreign 24 trading partner of items subject to controls 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 1135 IH under the Export Administration Regulations, 1 consistent with the Export Control Reform Act 2 of 2018 (50 U.S.C. 4801 et seq.). 3 ‘‘(D) Expedited regulatory processes re- 4 lated to the importation of goods and services 5 into the United States from the foreign trading 6 partner. 7 ‘‘(E) Requesting the necessary authority 8 and appropriations for sovereign loan guaran- 9 tees to the foreign trading partner. 10 ‘‘(F) The waiver of policy requirements 11 (other than policy requirements mandated by 12 an Act of Congress) as necessary to facilitate 13 the provision of financing to support exports to 14 the foreign trading partner. 15 ‘‘(G) Requesting appropriations for loan 16 loss reserves to facilitate the provision of fi- 17 nancing to support United States exports to the 18 foreign trading partner. 19 ‘‘(H) The exemption of financing provided 20 to support United States exports to the foreign 21 trading partner from section 8(g)(1) of the Ex- 22 port-Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 23 635g(g)(1)). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 1135 IH ‘‘(2) AUTHORITIES WITH RESPECT TO FOREIGN 1 ADVERSARIES.—Subject to subsection (e), with re- 2 spect to goods imported into the United States from 3 a foreign adversary engaged in economic coercion of 4 a foreign trading partner, the authorities described 5 in this subsection are the following: 6 ‘‘(A) The increase in duties. 7 ‘‘(B) The modification of tariff-rate 8 quotas. 9 ‘‘(d) COORDINATION WITH ALLIES AND PART- 10 NERS.— 11 ‘‘(1) COORDINATION BY PRESIDENT.—After a 12 determination by the President that a foreign trad- 13 ing partner is subject to economic coercion by a for- 14 eign adversary, the President shall endeavor to co- 15 ordinate— 16 ‘‘(A) the exercise of the authorities de- 17 scribed in subsection (c) with other allies and 18 partners, in order to broaden economic support 19 to the foreign trading partner affected by eco- 20 nomic coercion; and 21 ‘‘(B) with allies and partners to issue joint 22 condemnation of the actions of the foreign ad- 23 versary and support for the foreign trading 24 partner. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:29 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1135.IH H1135 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 1135 IH ‘‘(2) COORDINATION BY SECRETARY.—The Sec- 1 retary of State, in coordination with the heads of 2 relevant agencies, shall endeavor— 3 ‘‘(A) to encourage allies and partners to 4 create mechanisms and authorities necessary to 5 facilitate the coordination under paragraph 6 (1)(A); 7 ‘‘(B) to coordinate with allies and partners 8 to broaden international opposition to economic 9 coercion; 10 ‘‘(C) to coordinate with allies and partners 11 to deter the use of economic coercion by foreign 12 adversaries; and 13 ‘‘(D) to engage with allies and partners to 14 gather information about possible instances of 15 e [Text truncated for display. 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