Level the Playing Field in Global Trade Act of 2019

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1747 To require that any trade agreement eligible for expedited consideration by Congress include enforceable standards requiring paying adequate wages and maintaining sustainable production methods, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 5, 2019 Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, and Mrs. GILLIBRAND) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To require that any trade agreement eligible for expedited consideration by Congress include enforceable standards requiring paying adequate wages and maintaining sus- tainable production methods, 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 ‘‘Level the Playing Field 4 in Global Trade Act of 2019’’. 5 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 6 In this Act: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.IS S1747 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 2 •S 1747 IS (1) ADEQUATE WAGES.—The term ‘‘adequate 1 wages’’— 2 (A) means compensation for a regular 3 work week that is sufficient to meet the basic 4 needs of the employee and any dependents of 5 the employee, including reasonable discretionary 6 income; and 7 (B) includes, at a minimum— 8 (i) the payment of the higher of the 9 minimum wage or the appropriate pre- 10 vailing wage; 11 (ii) compliance with all legal require- 12 ments relating to wages (including freedom 13 of association relating to the bargaining re- 14 lating to wages and related matters); and 15 (iii) the provision of such benefits as 16 are required by law or contract. 17 (2) SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION METHODS.— 18 The term ‘‘sustainable production methods’’— 19 (A) means the application of technologies 20 and methods that are necessary to provide for 21 workplace safety, toxic waste control, control of 22 discharge of pollutants to air, water, and land, 23 and the reasonable conservation of energy and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.IS S1747 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 3 •S 1747 IS natural resources, taking into account local 1 standards and conditions; and 2 (B) includes, at a minimum, the use of 3 technologies and methods that would be re- 4 quired for similar production facilities in the 5 United States. 6 SEC. 3. INELIGIBILITY FOR EXPEDITED CONSIDERATION 7 BY CONGRESS OF CERTAIN TRADE AGREE- 8 MENTS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—No trade agreement with a coun- 10 try may receive expedited consideration by Congress under 11 the Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Ac- 12 countability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4201 et seq.) or any 13 other provision of law, including any limitation on amend- 14 ments or debate in either the Senate or the House of Rep- 15 resentatives (other than under rule XXII of the Standing 16 Rules of the Senate, as in effect on the date of the enact- 17 ment of this Act) unless the agreement includes binding 18 and enforceable requirements that all producers of mer- 19 chandise exported to the United States from that country 20 pay adequate wages and maintain sustainable production 21 methods. 22 (b) REQUIREMENTS.—For purposes of subsection 23 (a), a trade agreement does not include binding and en- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.IS S1747 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 4 •S 1747 IS forcement requirements described in that subsection un- 1 less the agreement includes provisions that— 2 (1) require the parties to treat as forms of 3 dumping or subsidies the failure to produce mer- 4 chandise under conditions under which all employees 5 receive adequate wages and sustainable production 6 methods are maintained; 7 (2) provide for enforcement procedures substan- 8 tially similar to the enforcement procedures provided 9 for under the United States antidumping and coun- 10 tervailing duty laws described in subsection (c); and 11 (3) require the parties to establish a precertifi- 12 cation system described in subsection (d). 13 (c) UNITED STATES ANTIDUMPING AND COUNTER- 14 VAILING DUTY LAWS DESCRIBED.—The United States 15 antidumping and countervailing duty laws described in 16 this subsection are title VII of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 17 U.S.C. 1671 et seq.), modified as follows: 18 (1) CALCULATION OF NORMAL VALUE.—The 19 normal value of merchandise calculated under sec- 20 tion 773(a) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 21 1677b(a)) shall be increased by an amount equal to 22 the estimated cost of producing the merchandise 23 under conditions under which all employees receive 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.IS S1747 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 5 •S 1747 IS adequate wages and sustainable production methods 1 are maintained. 2 (2) DEMONSTRATION OF INJURY.—An inter- 3 ested party described in subparagraph (C), (D), (E), 4 (F), or (G) of section 771(9) of the Tariff Act of 5 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(9)) that files a petition with 6 respect to merchandise under section 732(b)(1) of 7 that Act (19 U.S.C. 1673a(b)(1)) shall be presumed 8 to demonstrate that the party is materially injured 9 or threatened with material injury by reason of im- 10 ports of the merchandise unless— 11 (A) the country from which the merchan- 12 dise is exported is covered by a precertification 13 issued under subsection (d); or 14 (B) the estimated cost under paragraph 15 (1) of producing the merchandise under condi- 16 tions under which all employees receive ade- 17 quate wages and sustainable production meth- 18 ods are maintained is equal to or greater than 19 the cost of producing the merchandise in the 20 United States. 21 (d) PRECERTIFICATION SYSTEMS DESCRIBED.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—A precertification system is 23 described in this subsection if the system provides 24 for the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.IS S1747 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 6 •S 1747 IS (A) EXPORTER- OR PRODUCER-SPECIFIC 1 PRECERTIFICATION.—If an exporter or pro- 2 ducer of merchandise imported into a country 3 that is a party to a trade agreement that meets 4 the requirements of subsection (a) from another 5 country or countries demonstrates to the satis- 6 faction of an appropriate official of the country 7 that is a party to the trade agreement that all 8 merchandise from such other country or coun- 9 tries, including significant components or ingre- 10 dients of the merchandise, was or will be pro- 11 duced under conditions under which all employ- 12 ees receive adequate wages and sustainable pro- 13 duction methods are maintained, the appro- 14 priate official shall issue to that exporter or 15 producer, upon request, a precertification that 16 covers all merchandise imported into the coun- 17 try that is a party to the trade agreement by 18 that exporter or producer from such other coun- 19 try or countries. 20 (B) COUNTRY PRECERTIFICATION.—The 21 appropriate official of a country that is a party 22 to a trade agreement that meets the require- 23 ments of subsection (a) may issue a precertifi- 24 cation for all merchandise imported from an- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.IS S1747 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 7 •S 1747 IS other country if the government of that other 1 country maintains and enforces laws requiring 2 all producers of such merchandise in that other 3 country to pay employees adequate wages and 4 to maintain sustainable production methods. 5 (C) SAFE HARBOR.—If the appropriate of- 6 ficial of a country that is a party to a trade 7 agreement that meets the requirements of sub- 8 section (a) issues a precertification under sub- 9 paragraph (A) or (B), merchandise to which the 10 precertification applies shall not be subject to 11 an antidumping duty solely because a petition 12 seeking the imposition of an antidumping duty 13 filed with respect to the merchandise alleges 14 that the merchandise was not produced under 15 conditions under which all employees receive 16 adequate wages and sustainable production 17 methods are maintained. 18 (D) CHALLENGING PRECERTIFICATION.— 19 An interested party that files a petition seeking 20 the imposition of an antidumping duty with re- 21 spect to merchandise covered by a precertifica- 22 tion issued under subparagraph (A) or (B) 23 bears the burden of proving that the merchan- 24 dise was not produced under conditions under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.IS S1747 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 8 •S 1747 IS which all employees receive adequate wages and 1 sustainable production methods are maintained. 2 (2) USE OF THIRD-PARTY STANDARDS.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—In implementing a 4 trade agreement that meets the requirements of 5 subsection (a) with respect to the United 6 States, the Secretary of Commerce, the Sec- 7 retary of Labor, and the Administrator of the 8 Environmental Protection Agency may jointly 9 establish procedures pursuant to which obtain- 10 ing certification from an organization described 11 in subparagraph (B) may demonstrate the eligi- 12 bility of an exporter or producer for a 13 precertification described in paragraph (1)(A) 14 or the eligibility of a country for a precertifica- 15 tion described paragraph (1)(B). 16 (B) ORGANIZATION DESCRIBED.—An orga- 17 nization described in this subparagraph is an 18 independent third-party organization that sets 19 standards with respect to adequate wages or 20 sustainable production methods. 21 (3) GUIDANCE ON COMPLIANCE.—Not later 22 than one year after the date of the enactment of this 23 Act, the Secretary of Commerce shall publish in the 24 Federal Register guidance with respect to how per- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1747.IS S1747 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS 9 •S 1747 IS sons producing merchandise for exportation to the 1 United States or seeking to import such merchan- 2 dise into the United States may obtain a precertifi- 3 cation described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of para- 4 graph (1). 5 (4) APPROPRIATE OFFICIAL DEFINED.—In this 6 subsection, the term ‘‘appropriate official’’ means— 7 (A) in the case of the United States, the 8 Secretary of Commerce; and 9 (B) in the case of any other country that 10 is a party to a trade agreement that meets the 11 requirements of subsection (a), an official des- 12 ignated by that country. 13 (e) DETERMINATION OF COMPLIANCE.— 14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States Inter- 15 national Trade Commission shall make a determina- 16 tion with respect to whether each trade agreement is 17 in compliance with this section. 18 (2) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY OF TRADE AGREE- 19 MENT.—The Commission shall make the full text of 20 each trade agreement available to the public. 21 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Jun 12, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1747.IS S1747 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42 with BILLS