Countering China Through American Export Competitiveness Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8163 To limit support for deals with Chinese state-owned enterprises, to increase the set-aside goal for the Program on China and Transformational Ex- ports, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 4, 2020 Mr. BARR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To limit support for deals with Chinese state-owned enter- prises, to increase the set-aside goal for the Program on China and Transformational Exports, 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 ‘‘Countering China 4 Through American Export Competitiveness Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8163.IH H8163 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8163 IH SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON SUPPORT FOR DEALS WITH CHI- 1 NESE STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES. 2 Section 408 of division I of the Further Consolidated 3 Appropriations Act, 2020 (12 U.S.C. 635 note; Public 4 Law 116–94) is amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘SEC. 408. LIMITATION ON SUPPORT FOR DEALS WITH CHI- 6 NESE STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES. 7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Export-Import Bank of the 8 United States (in this section referred to as the ‘Bank’) 9 shall not guarantee, insure, or extend (or participate in 10 the extension of) credit for which the end user, lender, 11 or obligor is the government of the People’s Republic of 12 China, except that the Bank may provide a working cap- 13 ital guarantee or export credit insurance to a United 14 States exporter. In the case of such a transaction that in- 15 volves an amount greater than or equal to $25,000,000, 16 the Bank may provide a working capital guarantee or ex- 17 port credit insurance to a United States exporter with re- 18 spect to such an export if the Bank obtains from the 19 President of the United States, who may consult with the 20 Secretary of State, the Secretary of the Treasury, the Sec- 21 retary of Commerce, the Secretary of Defense, the United 22 States Trade Representative, and the heads of other inter- 23 ested Executive agencies, a determination that the provi- 24 sion of the guarantee or insurance would not violate the 25 national security interests of the United States. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8163.IH H8163 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8163 IH ‘‘(b) NATIONAL INTEREST REPORT.— 1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Before providing a working 2 capital guarantee or export credit insurance to a 3 United States exporter in a transaction involving an 4 amount equal to or greater than $25,000,000, pur- 5 suant to subsection (a), the President of the Bank 6 shall— 7 ‘‘(A) report to the Committee on Financial 8 Services of the House of Representatives and 9 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 10 Urban Affairs of the Senate that the Bank has 11 obtained from the President of the United 12 States and any other relevant department or 13 agency, as deemed appropriate by the President 14 of the United States, a determination that the 15 provision of the guarantee or insurance would 16 not violate the national security interests of the 17 United States; 18 ‘‘(B) include a verification from the Bank 19 that the transaction does not violate any export 20 law of the United States; and 21 ‘‘(C) include a summary of the transaction 22 and the consultation. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8163.IH H8163 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8163 IH ‘‘(2) FORM.—The report described in para- 1 graph (1) shall be submitted in unclassified form but 2 may include a classified annex. 3 ‘‘(c) DEFINITION OF GOVERNMENT OF THE PEO- 4 PLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA.—In this section, the term 5 ‘government of the People’s Republic of China’ means any 6 person that the Bank has reason to believe is— 7 ‘‘(1) the state and the government of the Peo- 8 ple’s Republic of China, including any political sub- 9 division, agency, or instrumentality thereof; 10 ‘‘(2) any entity controlled, directly or indirectly, 11 by any of the foregoing, including any partnership, 12 association, or other entity in which any of the fore- 13 going owns a 50 percent or greater interest or a con- 14 trolling interest, and any entity which is otherwise 15 controlled by any of the foregoing; 16 ‘‘(3) any person that is or has been acting or 17 purporting to act, directly or indirectly, for or on be- 18 half of any of the foregoing; and 19 ‘‘(4) any other person that the Secretary of the 20 Treasury has notified the Bank is included in any of 21 the foregoing.’’. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8163.IH H8163 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8163 IH SEC. 3. INCREASE IN RESERVE GOAL FOR THE PROGRAM 1 ON CHINA AND TRANSFORMATIONAL EX- 2 PORTS. 3 Section 2(l)(3) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 4 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635(l)(3)) is amended in each of sub- 5 paragraphs (A) and (B) by striking ‘‘20’’ and inserting 6 ‘‘33’’. 7 SEC. 4. SUSPENSION OF LOAN AUTHORITY UNDER THE 8 PROGRAM ON CHINA AND TRANS- 9 FORMATIONAL EXPORTS WHILE DEFAULT 10 RATE IS EXCESSIVE. 11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(l) of the Export-Import 12 Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635(l)) is amended by add- 13 ing at the end the following: 14 ‘‘(4) FREEZING OF LOANS UNDER THE PRO- 15 GRAM ON CHINA AND TRANSFORMATIONAL EXPORTS 16 IF DEFAULT RATE FOR LOANS UNDER THAT PRO- 17 GRAM IS 5 PERCENT OR MORE.—If the rate cal- 18 culated under section 8(g)(1) with respect to loans 19 under section 2(l) is 5 percent or more for a quar- 20 ter, the Bank may not exceed the amount of loans 21 under such section that are outstanding on the last 22 day of that quarter until the rate calculated under 23 section 8(g)(1) with respect to loans under such sec- 24 tion is less than 5 percent.’’. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8163.IH H8163 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8163 IH (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 6(a)(3) of 1 such Act (12 U.S.C. 635e(a)(3)) is amended by adding 2 at the end the following: ‘‘If the rate calculated under sec- 3 tion 8(g)(1) with respect to loans under section 2(l) is 2 4 percent or more for a quarter, then loans under section 5 2(l) shall not be taken into account for the quarter for 6 purposes of this paragraph.’’. 7 SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE FOR PROGRAM ON CHINA 8 AND TRANSFORMATIONAL EXPORTS. 9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 2(b) of the Export-Import 10 Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635(b)) is amended by in- 11 serting after paragraph (12) the following: 12 ‘‘(14)(A) The Board of Directors of the Bank shall 13 take prompt measures, consistent with the credit stand- 14 ards otherwise required by law, to promote the expansion 15 of the financial commitments of the Bank in accordance 16 with the Program on China and Transformational Exports 17 under the loan, guarantee, and insurance programs of the 18 Bank. 19 ‘‘(B)(i) The Board of Directors shall establish and 20 use an advisory committee to advise the Board of Direc- 21 tors on the development and implementation of policies 22 and programs designed to support the expansion described 23 in subparagraph (A). 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8163.IH H8163 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8163 IH ‘‘(ii) At least 1 member of the advisory committee 1 shall be a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Secu- 2 rity Review Commission. 3 ‘‘(iii) The advisory committee shall make rec- 4 ommendations to the Board of Directors on how the Bank 5 can facilitate greater support by United States commercial 6 banks for trade in accordance with the Program on China 7 and Transformational Exports. 8 ‘‘(iv) The advisory committee shall terminate on the 9 date on which the authority of the Bank expires under 10 section 7.’’. 11 (b) REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.—Within 6 months 12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually 13 thereafter, the Board of Directors of the Export-Import 14 Bank of the United States shall submit to the Congress 15 a report on the steps that the Board has taken to imple- 16 ment section 2(b)(14)(B) of the Export-Import Bank Act 17 of 1945 (as added by subsection (a) of this section) and 18 any recommendations of the advisory committee estab- 19 lished pursuant to such section 2(b)(14)(B). 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8163.IH H8163 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8163 IH SEC. 6. WAIVER OF DOMESTIC CONTENT REQUIREMENTS 1 FOR CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS SUBJECT TO 2 THE PROGRAM ON CHINA AND TRANS- 3 FORMATIONAL EXPORTS. 4 Section 2(l) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 5 (12 U.S.C. 635(l)), as amended by section 4(a) of this 6 Act, is amended by adding at the end the following: 7 ‘‘(5) WAIVER OF DOMESTIC CONTENT REQUIRE- 8 MENTS.— 9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Bank may waive 10 some or all of the domestic content require- 11 ments that would otherwise apply to a trans- 12 action described in paragraph (1)(B), if the 13 Bank determines that doing so would be in the 14 national security interest of the United States, 15 and shall establish a process for requesting 16 such a waiver. 17 ‘‘(B) REPORTS TO THE CONGRESS.—Not 18 less frequently than twice each year, the Bank 19 shall submit to the Committee on Financial 20 Services of the House of Representatives and 21 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and 22 Urban Affairs of the Senate a report specifying 23 the transactions for which a waiver is provided 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8163.IH H8163 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8163 IH under subparagraph (A) during the period cov- 1 ered by the report.’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:58 Sep 07, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8163.IH H8163 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS