APEX Act

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1850 To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to extend the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to include the oversight of markets that set or report reference prices for aluminum premiums, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 7, 2023 Ms. BALDWIN (for herself and Mr. COTTON) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu- trition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Commodity Exchange Act to extend the juris- diction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to include the oversight of markets that set or report reference prices for aluminum premiums, 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 ‘‘Aluminum Pricing Ex- 4 amination Act’’ or the ‘‘APEX Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1850.IS S1850 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 1850 IS SEC. 2. JURISDICTION OF COMMODITY FUTURES TRADING 1 COMMISSION OVER MARKETS THAT SET OR 2 REPORT REFERENCE PRICES FOR ALUMINUM 3 PREMIUMS. 4 Section 2(a)(1) of the Commodity Exchange Act (7 5 U.S.C. 2(a)(1)) is amended by adding at the end the fol- 6 lowing: 7 ‘‘(J) REFERENCE PRICES FOR ALUMINUM 8 PREMIUMS.— 9 ‘‘(i) JURISDICTION.— 10 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Commis- 11 sion shall have jurisdiction over mar- 12 kets that set or report reference prices 13 for aluminum premiums, including— 14 ‘‘(aa) oversight of the proc- 15 ess and manner in which ref- 16 erence prices for aluminum pre- 17 miums are set or reported; and 18 ‘‘(bb) determining whether 19 the mechanism for setting ref- 20 erence prices for aluminum pre- 21 miums is fair and transparent. 22 ‘‘(II) EFFECT.—Nothing in this 23 Act grants the Commission authority 24 to set or control prices for aluminum 25 premiums. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1850.IS S1850 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 1850 IS ‘‘(ii) CONSULTATION WITH ATTORNEY 1 GENERAL.— 2 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Commis- 3 sion shall consult with the Attorney 4 General on any relevant information, 5 allegations of anticompetitive conduct, 6 or marketplace analysis in the setting 7 or reporting of a reference price for 8 aluminum premiums. 9 ‘‘(II) REVIEW BY ATTORNEY 10 GENERAL.—The Commission shall af- 11 ford the Attorney General an oppor- 12 tunity to review any regulation or 13 guideline proposed by the Commission 14 in carrying out this subparagraph to 15 ensure that the regulation or guideline 16 is consistent with the goals and pur- 17 poses of the antitrust laws. 18 ‘‘(III) AUTHORITIES AND DUTIES 19 OF ATTORNEY GENERAL.—The Attor- 20 ney General— 21 ‘‘(aa) may cooperate, and 22 share relevant information, with 23 the Commission with respect to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1850.IS S1850 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •S 1850 IS the setting of a reference price 1 for aluminum premiums; and 2 ‘‘(bb) shall review any pro- 3 posed regulation or guideline de- 4 scribed in subclause (II) to en- 5 sure that the regulation or guide- 6 line is in accordance with the 7 goals and purposes of the anti- 8 trust laws. 9 ‘‘(IV) TRANSMISSION TO COMMIS- 10 SION.—The Attorney General shall 11 transmit to the Commission the views 12 of the Attorney General on any pro- 13 posed regulation or guideline de- 14 scribed in subclause (II).’’. 15 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Jun 23, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1850.IS S1850 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB