Assistance for Firms Harmed by Tariffs on Exports Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 6124 To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to provide adjustment assistance to firms adversely affected by reduced exports resulting from tariffs imposed as retaliation for United States tariff increases, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 5, 2020 Mr. SCHNEIDER (for himself, Mr. SENSENBRENNER, and Mr. COOPER) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to provide adjustment assistance to firms adversely affected by reduced exports resulting from tariffs imposed as retaliation for United States tariff increases, 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 ‘‘Assistance for Firms 4 Harmed by Tariffs on Exports Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6124.IH H6124 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 6124 IH (1) In recognition that trade policy can result 1 in disparate and disruptive changes to the economy, 2 the Trade Adjustment Assistance program was en- 3 acted to help workers adversely impacted by the 4 trade policy decisions of the Federal Government. 5 (2) The Trump Administration has made clear 6 that it intends to aggressively use Federal trade 7 statutes, including section 232 of the Trade Expan- 8 sion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862) and section 301 9 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411), and po- 10 tentially the International Emergency Economic 11 Powers Act (Public Law 95–223), to increase tariffs 12 on selected imports. 13 (3) Foreign countries affected by such tariff in- 14 creases have, as of the date of the enactment of this 15 Act, already raised tariffs on United States exports 16 or have indicated that they intend to respond by 17 raising tariffs on such exports. 18 (4) Increased tariffs on such exports threaten 19 to reduce employment in affected sectors of the 20 United States economy. 21 (5) Firms adversely impacted by these effects 22 deserve adjustment assistance. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6124.IH H6124 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 6124 IH SEC. 3. ADJUSTMENT ASSISTANCE FOR FIRMS. 1 Subparagraph (C) of section 251(c)(1) of the Trade 2 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2341) is amended to read as fol- 3 lows: 4 ‘‘(C) either— 5 ‘‘(i) increases of imports of articles or serv- 6 ices like or directly competitive with articles 7 which are produced or services which are sup- 8 plied by such firm contributed importantly to 9 such total or partial separation, or threat there- 10 of, and to such decline in sales or production; 11 or 12 ‘‘(ii)(I) exports of articles or services pro- 13 duced or supplied by such firm have decreased 14 as a result, in whole or in part, from tariffs im- 15 posed on such exports by a foreign country in 16 response to United States tariffs imposed on 17 the imports of such country pursuant to an ac- 18 tion taken under the authority of— 19 ‘‘(aa) section 232 of the Trade 20 Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 21 1862); 22 ‘‘(bb) section 301 of the Trade 23 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411); or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6124.IH H6124 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 6124 IH ‘‘(cc) the International Emer- 1 gency Economic Powers Act (Public 2 Law 95–223); and 3 ‘‘(II) the decrease in such exports contrib- 4 uted importantly to such total or partial separa- 5 tion, or threat thereof, and to such decline in 6 sales or production.’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:20 Mar 12, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H6124.IH H6124 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS