Enforcing Accountability and Transparency in International Trade Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3978 To require the United States Trade Representative to submit a report on plans to facilitate the full implementation of agreements of the World Trade Organization, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 17, 2020 Mrs. LOEFFLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance A BILL To require the United States Trade Representative to submit a report on plans to facilitate the full implementation of agreements of the World Trade Organization, 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 ‘‘Enforcing Account- 4 ability and Transparency in International Trade Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3978.IS S3978 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3978 IS (1) The World Trade Organization is a 164- 1 member international organization that was created 2 to oversee and administer multilateral trade rules, 3 serve as a forum for trade liberalization negotia- 4 tions, and resolve trade disputes. 5 (2) The United States was a major force behind 6 the establishment of the World Trade Organization 7 in 1995. 8 (3) The United States, along with other coun- 9 tries, has sought to establish a more open, rules- 10 based trading system in the postwar era, with the 11 goal of fostering international economic cooperation 12 and raising economic prosperity worldwide. 13 (4) Congress holds constitutional authority over 14 foreign commerce and establishes trade negotiating 15 objectives and principles through legislation. 16 (5) The statutory basis for the membership of 17 the United States in the World Trade Organization 18 is the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 19 3501 et seq.), and United States priorities and ob- 20 jectives for the General Agreement on Tariffs and 21 Trade of the World Trade Organization have been 22 reflected in various legislative measures providing 23 expedited trade promotion authority since 1974. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3978.IS S3978 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3978 IS (6) Congress has recognized the World Trade 1 Organization as the ‘‘foundation of the global trad- 2 ing system’’ and plays a direct legislative and over- 3 sight role over the implementation of World Trade 4 Organization agreements in the United States. 5 (7) Ninety-eight percent of global trade is con- 6 ducted among members of the World Trade Organi- 7 zation. 8 (8) Approximately 65 percent of the United 9 States trade is with countries that do not have free 10 trade agreements with the United States, such as 11 with the People’s Republic of China, the European 12 Union, and India, which thus relies on the terms 13 provided in agreements of the World Trade Organi- 14 zation. 15 (9) About 2⁄3 of the members of the World 16 Trade Organization, including the People’s Republic 17 of China, self-designate as ‘‘developing’’ countries. 18 (10) World Trade Organization agreements 19 allow countries to lower trade barriers gradually, 20 with developing countries and sensitive sectors in 21 particular usually given longer transition periods to 22 fulfill their obligations under new agreements. 23 (11) The World Trade Organization also sup- 24 plements such ‘‘special and differential’’ treatment 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3978.IS S3978 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3978 IS for developing countries by providing capacity-build- 1 ing measures, providing technical assistance for the 2 implementation of obligations under World Trade 3 Organization agreements, and permitting countries 4 to extend non-reciprocal trade preference programs 5 to such developing countries. 6 (12) On July 26, 2019, President Donald J. 7 Trump issued a document entitled ‘‘Memorandum 8 on Reforming Developing Country Status in the 9 World Trade Organization’’. 10 SEC. 3. REPORT ON UNITED STATES STRATEGY AT THE 11 WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION. 12 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact- 13 ment of this Act, the United States Trade Representative 14 shall submit to Congress a report describing the manner 15 in which the Trade Representative plans to pursue a 16 United States strategy with respect to the World Trade 17 Organization to— 18 (1) facilitate the full implementation of agree- 19 ments reached by the World Trade Organization; 20 (2) enable the maximum benefits from trade to 21 accrue to those members of the World Trade Orga- 22 nization that face the greatest difficulty integrating 23 into the multilateral trading system of the World 24 Trade Organization; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3978.IS S3978 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3978 IS (3) ensure that any member of the World Trade 1 Organization that meets all of the following criteria 2 does not receive ‘‘special and differential’’ treatment 3 under current or future agreements of the World 4 Trade Organization: 5 (A) The member is ranked by the World 6 Bank as among one of the top 10 economies in 7 the world based on nominal gross domestic 8 product. 9 (B) The member is also a member of the 10 Group of 20. 11 (C) The member is also a member of, or 12 has begun the accession process to, the 13 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 14 Development. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:23 Jun 26, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3978.IS S3978 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS