To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to modify and extend the Generalized System of Preferences, and for other purposes.

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8884 To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to modify and extend the Generalized System of Preferences, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES DECEMBER 7, 2020 Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, and Ms. MOORE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means A BILL To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to modify and extend the Generalized System of Preferences, 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. MODIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF GENERAL- 3 IZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES. 4 (a) DESIGNATION OF BENEFICIARY DEVELOPING 5 COUNTRIES.—Section 502 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 6 U.S.C. 2462) is amended— 7 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 8 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8884.IH H8884 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8884 IH (A) by inserting after subparagraph (H) 1 the following: 2 ‘‘(I) Such country engages in gross viola- 3 tions of internationally recognized human rights 4 in that country (including any designated zone 5 in that country). 6 ‘‘(J) Such country has failed to effectively 7 enforce its environmental laws, regulations, or 8 other measures, or to fulfill its international en- 9 vironmental obligations, including as such obli- 10 gations relate to public health.’’; and 11 (B) in the text following subparagraph (J) 12 (as so inserted), by striking ‘‘and (H) (to the 13 extent described in section 507(6)(D))’’ and in- 14 serting ‘‘(H) (to the extent described in section 15 507(6)(D)), (I), and (J)’’; 16 (2) in subsection (c)— 17 (A) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ‘‘; 18 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 19 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe- 20 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 21 (C) by adding at the end the following: 22 ‘‘(8) the extent to which such country effec- 23 tively enforces its environmental laws, regulations, 24 and other measures, and fulfills its international en- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8884.IH H8884 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8884 IH vironmental obligations, including as such obliga- 1 tions relate to public health; and 2 ‘‘(9) the extent to which such country has es- 3 tablished, or is making continual progress toward es- 4 tablishing— 5 ‘‘(A) the rule of law, political pluralism, 6 and the right to due process, a fair trial, and 7 equal protection under the law; 8 ‘‘(B) economic policies to reduce poverty, 9 increase the availability of health care and edu- 10 cational opportunities, expand physical infra- 11 structure, promote the development of private 12 enterprise, and encourage the formation of cap- 13 ital markets through micro-credit or other pro- 14 grams; and 15 ‘‘(C) a system to combat corruption and 16 bribery, such as signing and implementing the 17 Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign 18 Public Officials in International Business 19 Transactions.’’; and 20 (3) by adding at the end the following: 21 ‘‘(g) ASSESSMENT AND REPORT ON COMPLIANCE 22 WITH ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall— 24 ‘‘(A) on an annual basis— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8884.IH H8884 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8884 IH ‘‘(i) conduct assessments on compli- 1 ance of an appropriate number of countries 2 designated as beneficiary developing coun- 3 tries for purposes of this title in meeting 4 or continuing to meet their eligibility re- 5 quirements under this title; and 6 ‘‘(ii) make determinations whether to 7 self-initiate full country practice reviews of 8 those countries’ continued eligibility under 9 this title; and 10 ‘‘(B) submit to Congress a report con- 11 sisting of the results of such assessments and 12 determinations. 13 ‘‘(2) FREQUENCY.—The President shall con- 14 duct an assessment described in clause (i) of para- 15 graph (1)(A) and make a determination described in 16 clause (ii) of such paragraph with respect to each 17 country designated as a beneficiary developing coun- 18 try for purposes of this title not less frequently than 19 once every 3 years.’’. 20 (b) SUPPLEMENTAL REVIEW AND REPORTING.— 21 (1) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.—It is the 22 policy of the United States to support gender equal- 23 ity and worker rights by promoting legal reforms 24 that address legal, structural, and social barriers 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8884.IH H8884 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8884 IH that constrain the full and free economic participa- 1 tion of all workers in the global economy. 2 (2) REVIEW OF LAWS.— 3 (A) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Trade 4 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) is amend- 5 ed by inserting after section 504 the following: 6 ‘‘SEC. 504A. REVIEW OF LAWS RELATING TO INTERNATION- 7 ALLY RECOGNIZED WORKER RIGHTS AND 8 EQUAL RIGHTS AND PROTECTION UNDER 9 THE LAW. 10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than May 1, 2021, and 11 annually thereafter, the United States Trade Representa- 12 tive and the Deputy Undersecretary of Labor for Inter- 13 national Affairs, in consultation with the policy advisory 14 committee on labor established under section 135(c)(1), 15 shall jointly— 16 ‘‘(1) review the laws of each beneficiary devel- 17 oping country relating to internationally recognized 18 worker rights and the affording of equal rights and 19 protection under the law, regardless of gender, in 20 each of the categories described in subsection (b); 21 ‘‘(2) assess the legal rights and protections af- 22 forded in such countries; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8884.IH H8884 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8884 IH ‘‘(3) submit to Congress a report on the laws 1 of and legal rights and protections afforded in such 2 countries. 3 ‘‘(b) CATEGORIES DESCRIBED.—The categories de- 4 scribed in this subsection are the following: 5 ‘‘(1) Internationally recognized worker rights. 6 ‘‘(2) Mobility. 7 ‘‘(3) Employment conditions, benefits and pay, 8 including equal pay for equal work and removal of 9 employment restrictions. 10 ‘‘(4) Entrepreneurship. 11 ‘‘(5) Assets, including property and inheritance 12 rights. 13 ‘‘(6) Equal access to education. 14 ‘‘(7) Access to institutions. 15 ‘‘(8) Protections from violence and harassment, 16 including gender-based violence and harassment. 17 ‘‘(9) Marriage, divorce, and child custody. 18 ‘‘(c) METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES.—The report re- 19 quired by subsection (a)(3) shall include— 20 ‘‘(1) an explanation of the methodology and 21 sources used for the conduct of reviews under sub- 22 section (a)(1) and the conduct of assessments under 23 subsection (a)(2); and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8884.IH H8884 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8884 IH ‘‘(2) where relevant, citations to data, informa- 1 tion, studies, and assessments that were used to pre- 2 pare the report and were gathered, compiled, or de- 3 veloped by the United States Government, foreign 4 governments, multilateral institutions, nongovern- 5 mental organizations, or educational institutions. 6 ‘‘(d) MEASUREMENT OF WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EM- 7 POWERMENT.—To support the measurement of women’s 8 economic empowerment, the Trade Representative shall 9 encourage and support the reporting by beneficiary devel- 10 oping countries of sex-disaggregated economic and busi- 11 ness data, including the gathering of information con- 12 sistent with the United Nations Sustainable Development 13 Goals, particularly the goals relating to gender equality 14 and decent work.’’. 15 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 16 contents for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended 17 by inserting after the item relating to section 18 504 the following: 19 ‘‘Sec. 504A. Review of laws relating to internationally recognized worker rights and equal rights and protection under the law.’’. (c) EXTENSION OF GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREF- 20 ERENCES.—Section 505 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 21 U.S.C. 2465) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 22 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘June 30, 2021’’. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8884.IH H8884 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8884 IH SEC. 2. UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMIS- 1 SION STUDY. 2 Not later than May 1, 2021, the United States Inter- 3 national Trade Commission shall submit to Congress a re- 4 port that contains a study on rules of origin and the utili- 5 zation rates under the Generalized System of Preferences 6 program under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 7 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.), including an assessment of— 8 (1) the utilization rates of least-developed bene- 9 ficiary developing countries under the program; and 10 (2) the effectiveness of the program’s rules of 11 origin in promoting trade benefits to least-developed 12 beneficiary developing countries under the program 13 and preventing the transshipment of products from 14 countries that are not beneficiary developing coun- 15 tries under the program. 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8884.IH H8884 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS