Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should reaffirm its commitment as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and work with other WTO members to achieve reforms at the WTO that improve the speed and predictability of dispute settlement, address longstanding concerns with the WTO's Appellate Body, increase transparency at the WTO, ensure that WTO members invoke special and differential treatment reserved for developing countries only in fair and appropriate circumstances, and update the WTO rules to address the needs of the United States and other free and open economies in the 21st century.

IV 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 382 Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should reaffirm its commitment as a member of the World Trade Organi- zation (WTO) and work with other WTO members to achieve reforms at the WTO that improve the speed and predictability of dispute settle- ment, address longstanding concerns with the WTO’s Appellate Body, increase transparency at the WTO, ensure that WTO members invoke special and differential treatment reserved for developing countries only in fair and appropriate circumstances, and update the WTO rules to address the needs of the United States and other free and open econo- mies in the 21st century. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MAY 11, 2021 Mr. KIND (for himself, Mr. SCHWEIKERT, Mr. BEYER, and Mr. FERGUSON) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means RESOLUTION Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that the United States should reaffirm its commitment as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and work with other WTO members to achieve reforms at the WTO that improve the speed and predictability of dispute settlement, address longstanding concerns with the WTO’s Appellate Body, increase transparency at the WTO, ensure that WTO members invoke special and differential treatment reserved for developing countries only in fair and appropriate circumstances, and update VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\HR382.IH HR382 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 382 IH the WTO rules to address the needs of the United States and other free and open economies in the 21st century. Whereas the United States is an original member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a key architect of the institution; Whereas the WTO is a critical forum for strengthening the multilateral rules-based trading system and a bedrock of United States trade policy; Whereas the United States has provided the leadership and political will to advance the goal of the WTO to create and enforce rules that reduce obstacles to international trade that help ensure a level playing field; Whereas sustained United States leadership in the WTO pro- vides best paths to achieve necessary WTO reforms, cre- ate new trade rules that enhance opportunities for all, and address the needs and challenges of the United States and all other free and open economies in the 21st century; Whereas the United States recognizes the historic nature of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s selection as the WTO’s new Director-General as being both the first woman and first African to be chosen; Whereas the WTO recognizes that trade should be conducted with a view to raising standards of living, ensuring full employment and a large and steadily growing volume of real income and effective demand, expanding the produc- tion of and trade in goods and services, optimally using the world’s resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development, and seeking to protect and pre- serve the environment; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR382.IH HR382 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 382 IH Whereas the WTO is the preferred forum in which member economies resolve disputes that arise among them; Whereas the United States has consistently supported having a functional, efficient dispute settlement mechanism at the WTO that strictly follows the Dispute Settlement Un- derstanding as agreed by all WTO members and remains accountable to WTO members; Whereas the United States, for decades, has sought to strengthen the WTO dispute settlement system by advo- cating for necessary, thoughtful and prudent reforms; Whereas the United States has expressed longstanding con- cerns that the WTO Appellate Body, through its findings and procedural liberties, is improperly adding to or di- minishing the rights or obligations of WTO members; Whereas the United States has consistently urged the WTO to improve transparency by requiring that all dispute set- tlement hearings at the WTO be open to the public, and all submissions by the parties be publicly available; Whereas, while several WTO members have joined the United States in agreeing to open hearings to the public and in making public submissions, most WTO Members continue to insist on closed hearings and confidential submissions; Whereas transparent WTO dispute settlement enhances WTO members’ understanding of the dispute settlement sys- tem, particularly for those who do not participate often in the system; Whereas open dispute settlement promotes the accountability, professionalism, and impartiality of WTO adjudicators, to the benefit of the dispute settlement system as a whole; Whereas many WTO members have failed to meet basic noti- fication obligations making it difficult and, in some cases, VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR382.IH HR382 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HRES 382 IH impossible to monitor or determine their compliance with WTO obligations, including subsidies disciplines; Whereas the United States has encouraged, by proposing var- ious incentives and administrative measures, better com- pliance with notification obligations; Whereas the WTO allows members to self-identify as devel- oping countries in order to receive special and differential treatment; Whereas some self-declared developing countries that are now advanced continue to demand the same special and dif- ferential treatment intended for much smaller, less devel- oped members, creating asymmetries that hinder the WTO from achieving meaningful outcomes in current and future negotiations; Whereas for over a decade, most WTO members have refused to engage in serious efforts to address longstanding United States calls for reform of dispute settlement and other important aspects of the WTO system; and Whereas WTO members are engaged in negotiations to re- form the WTO and create new rules, including with re- spect to fisheries subsidies and e-commerce: Now, there- fore, be it Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Rep- 1 resentatives that— 2 (1) the United States should continue to lead 3 reform efforts to ensure that the World Trade Orga- 4 nization (WTO) functions as agreed by the member- 5 ship and is updated appropriately for the 21st cen- 6 tury; and 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR382.IH HR382 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HRES 382 IH (2) the United States should continue to urge 1 other WTO members to work with the United States 2 to achieve needed reforms so that the WTO and its 3 members can address unjustified barriers to trade 4 and promote economic norms that improve the 5 standard of living across the world; and 6 (3) the United States Trade Representative 7 should continue to lead and work with other coun- 8 tries to pursue reforms at the WTO that— 9 (A) address concerns with the WTO’s Ap- 10 pellate Body; 11 (B) improve the efficiency and trans- 12 parency of dispute settlement proceedings; 13 (C) remediate the failure to satisfy notifi- 14 cation obligations of the various WTO agree- 15 ments and develop accountability mechanisms 16 to address this issue proactively; 17 (D) discipline the use of special and dif- 18 ferential treatment for self-declared developing 19 countries; 20 (E) ensure there are platforms to discuss 21 issues related to labor, the environment, and 22 women’s economic empowerment; and 23 (F) create new rules and structures that 24 can serve the United States interests while pro- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:20 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR382.IH HR382 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HRES 382 IH moting peace, prosperity, and open markets and 1 societies. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:02 May 12, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR382.IH HR382 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS