II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 899 

To limit the authority of the President to modify duty rates for national 

security reasons and to limit the authority of the United States Trade 

Representative to impose certain duties or import restrictions, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 27, 2019 

Mr. KAINE (for himself and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To limit the authority of the President to modify duty rates 

for national security reasons and to limit the authority 

of the United States Trade Representative to impose 

certain duties or import restrictions, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Reclaiming Congres5 sional Trade Authority Act of 2019’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY OF PRESIDENT TO 

2 MODIFY DUTY RATES FOR NATIONAL SECU3 RITY REASONS. 

4 (a) AUTHORITY TO MODIFY DUTY RATES FOR NA5 TIONAL SECURITY REASONS.—Notwithstanding any other 

6 provision of law and except as provided in subsection (c), 

7 the President may proclaim a new or additional national 

8 security duty on an article imported into the United States 

9 only if— 

10 (1) the President, not later than 30 calendar 

11 days after making the national security determina12 tion that is the basis for the new or additional duty, 

13 submits to the International Trade Commission the 

14 duty proposal, including— 

15 (A) a description of each article for which 

16 the President recommends a new or additional 

17 duty; 

18 (B) the proposed new or additional duty 

19 rate; and 

20 (C) the proposed duration of that rate; 

21 (2) the President, not later than 15 calendar 

22 days after submitting the duty proposal under para23 graph (1), submits to Congress a request for author24 ization to modify duty rates in accordance with that 

25 duty proposal, including— 


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1 (A) a report by the Secretary of Defense 

2 explaining why the proposal is in the interest of 

3 national security; and 

4 (B) a report by the International Trade 

5 Commission assessing the likely impact of the 

6 proposal on the economy of the United States 

7 as a whole and specific industry sectors; 

8 (3) the President consults with the Committee 

9 on Finance and the Committee on Armed Services of 

10 the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means 

11 and the Committee on Armed Services of the House 

12 of Representatives regarding the duty proposal 

13 under paragraph (1), including— 

14 (A) the short-term and long-term goals of 

15 the proposal; 

16 (B) an action plan to achieve those goals; 

17 and 

18 (C) plans to consult with officials of coun19 tries impacted by the proposal to resolve any 

20 issues relating to the proposal; and 

21 (4) a joint resolution of approval under sub22 section (b) is enacted. 

23 (b) JOINT RESOLUTION OF APPROVAL.— 

24 (1) JOINT RESOLUTION OF APPROVAL DE25 FINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘‘joint resoluVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S899.IS S899

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1 tion of approval’’ means a joint resolution the sole 

2 matter after the resolving clause of which is as fol3 lows: ‘‘That Congress authorizes the President to 

4 proclaim duty rates as set forth in the request of the 

5 President on lllllllllll’’, with the 

6 blank space being filled with the date of the request 

7 submitted under subsection (a)(2). 

8 (2) INTRODUCTION.—A joint resolution of ap9 proval may be introduced in either House of Con10 gress by any Member during the 15-legislative day 

11 period beginning on the date on which the President 

12 submits to Congress the material set forth in sub13 section (a)(2). 

14 (3) EXPEDITED PROCEDURES.—The provisions 

15 of subsections (b) through (f) of section 152 of the 

16 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2192) apply to a joint 

17 resolution of approval to the same extent that such 

18 subsections apply to joint resolutions under such 

19 section 152. 

20 (4) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

21 AND SENATE.—This subsection is enacted by Con22 gress— 

23 (A) as an exercise of the rulemaking power 

24 of the Senate and the House of Representa25 tives, respectively, and as such is deemed a part 


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1 of the rules of each House, respectively, but ap2 plicable only with respect to the procedure to be 

3 followed in that House in the case of a joint 

4 resolution of approval, and supersedes other 

5 rules only to the extent that it is inconsistent 

6 with such rules; and 

7 (B) with full recognition of the constitu8 tional right of either House to change the rules 

9 (so far as relating to the procedure of that 

10 House) at any time, in the same manner, and 

11 to the same extent as in the case of any other 

12 rule of that House. 

13 (c) EXCEPTION FOR URGENT ACTION.—Notwith14 standing the requirements of subsection (a), the President 

15 may proclaim a new or additional national security duty 

16 for one period of 120 calendar days if the President deter17 mines that urgent action is necessary— 

18 (1) to address a national emergency; 

19 (2) for the prevention or mitigation of, or to re20 spond to, loss of life or property; 

21 (3) to address an imminent threat to health or 

22 safety; 

23 (4) for the enforcement of criminal laws; or 

24 (5) for national security. 


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1 (d) NATIONAL SECURITY DUTY DEFINED.—In this 

2 section, the term ‘‘national security duty’’ means the fol3 lowing: 

4 (1) A duty proclaimed pursuant to— 

5 (A) section 232 of the Trade Expansion 

6 Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862); 

7 (B) the Trading with the Enemy Act (50 

8 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.); or 

9 (C) the International Emergency Economic 

10 Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

11 (2) A duty proclaimed pursuant to any other 

12 provision of law if in reports or other public state13 ments regarding the duty the President or another 

14 cabinet-level official identifies national security as a 

15 significant reason for proclaiming the duty. 

16 SEC. 3. CONDITIONS ON USE OF AUTHORITY BY UNITED 

17 STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE TO IMPOSE 

18 DUTIES OR OTHER IMPORT RESTRICTIONS. 

19 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 301(c) of the Trade Act 

20 of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411(c)) is amended by adding at the 

21 end the following: 

22 ‘‘(7)(A) The Trade Representative may take ac23 tion pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) only if— 

24 ‘‘(i) the Trade Representative submits to 

25 the International Trade Commission a proposal 


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1 for duties or other import restrictions under 

2 that paragraph, including— 

3 ‘‘(I) a description of each article cov4 ered by that proposal; 

5 ‘‘(II) the proposed new or additional 

6 duty rate; and 

7 ‘‘(III) the proposed duration of that 

8 rate; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the Trade Representative submits to 

10 Congress a notification of intent to impose du11 ties or import restrictions under that para12 graph, including— 

13 ‘‘(I) the proposal submitted under 

14 clause (i); and 

15 ‘‘(II) a report by the International 

16 Trade Commission assessing the likely im17 pact of the proposal on the economy of the 

18 United States as a whole and specific in19 dustry sectors; 

20 ‘‘(iii) after submitting the notification 

21 under clause (ii), the Trade Representative 

22 consults with the Committee on Finance of the 

23 Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means 

24 of the House of Representatives and, if the pro25 posal affects agricultural products, the ComVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:14 Apr 02, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S899.IS S899

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1 mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

2 of the Senate and the Committee on Agri3 culture of the House of Representatives; 

4 ‘‘(iv) a period of 60 calendar days, begin5 ning on the date on which the Trade Represent6 ative has completed consultations under clause 

7 (iii), has passed; and 

8 ‘‘(v) no disapproval resolution under sub9 paragraph (B) is passed during the period de10 scribed in clause (iv). 

11 ‘‘(B)(i) In this subparagraph, the term ‘dis12 approval resolution’ means a joint resolution the sole 

13 matter after the resolving clause of which is as fol14 lows: ‘That implementation of the proposal by the 

15 Trade Representative to impose duties or other im16 port restrictions submitted to Congress on 

17 llllllllllllllll is not in the 

18 interest of the United States.’, with the blank space 

19 being filled with the date on which the Trade Rep20 resentative submitted to Congress the material de21 scribed in subsection (A)(ii). 

22 ‘‘(ii) Paragraph (2) of section 106(b) of the Bi23 partisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Ac24 countability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4205(b)) applies 

25 to a disapproval resolution under this subparagraph 


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1 to the same extent that such paragraph applies to 

2 a procedural disapproval resolution under such sec3 tion 106(b).’’. 

4 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Paragraph (1)(B) 

5 of such section is amended by inserting ‘‘subject to para6 graph (7),’’ before ‘‘impose duties’’. 

Æ 


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