II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 746 

To amend section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to require 

the Secretary of Defense to initiate investigations and to provide for 

congressional disapproval of certain actions, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 15, 2021 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Ms. SINEMA, Ms. ERNST, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

WICKER, and Mr. YOUNG) introduced the following bill; which was read 

twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To amend section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 

to require the Secretary of Defense to initiate investigations and to provide for congressional disapproval of 

certain actions, 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 ‘‘Trade Security Act 

5 of 2021’’. 

2 

•S 746 IS

1 SEC. 2. INVESTIGATIONS TO DETERMINE EFFECTS ON NA2 TIONAL SECURITY OF IMPORTS OF ARTICLES 

3 AND CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF PRESI4 DENTIAL ACTIONS. 

5 (a) INVESTIGATIONS AND DETERMINATIONS BY SEC6 RETARY OF DEFENSE.—Section 232 of the Trade Expan7 sion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (b)— 

9 (A) in paragraph (1)— 

10 (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

11 ‘‘Secretary of Commerce’’ and all that fol12 lows through ‘‘ ‘Secretary’)’’ and inserting 

13 ‘‘Secretary of Defense’’; and 

14 (ii) in subparagraph (B)— 

15 (I) by striking ‘‘Secretary shall’’ 

16 and inserting ‘‘Secretary of Defense 

17 shall’’; and 

18 (II) by striking ‘‘Secretary of De19 fense of’’ and inserting ‘‘Secretary of 

20 Commerce of’’; 

21 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

22 (i) by striking subparagraph (B); 

23 (ii) in the matter preceding clause 

24 (i)— 

25 (I) by striking ‘‘(A) In’’ and in26 serting ‘‘In’’; and 

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1 (II) by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ and 

2 inserting ‘‘Secretary of Defense’’; and 

3 (iii) by striking clauses (i) through 

4 (iii) and inserting the following: 

5 ‘‘(A) consult with the Secretary of Commerce 

6 regarding the methodological and policy questions 

7 raised in any investigation initiated under paragraph 

8 (1); 

9 ‘‘(B) prepare an assessment of the defense re10 quirements and national security impact of any arti11 cle that is the subject of an investigation, which 

12 shall focus on— 

13 ‘‘(i) the impact of the importation of the 

14 article on military readiness and critical infra15 structure; and 

16 ‘‘(ii) the need for a reliable supply of the 

17 article to protect national security; 

18 ‘‘(C) seek information and advice from the Sec19 retary of Commerce; 

20 ‘‘(D) consult with appropriate officers of the 

21 United States; 

22 ‘‘(E) consult with members of the Committee 

23 on Finance of the Senate and members of the Com24 mittee on Ways and Means of the House of Rep25 resentatives; and 

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1 ‘‘(F) hold public hearings, co-chaired with the 

2 Secretary of Commerce, or otherwise afford inter3 ested parties an opportunity to present information 

4 and advice relevant to such investigation.’’; 

5 (C) by striking paragraph (3) and insert6 ing the following: 

7 ‘‘(3)(A) Not later than 200 days after the date on 

8 which the Secretary of Defense initiates an investigation 

9 under paragraph (1) with respect to an article, the Sec10 retary of Defense shall submit to the President a report 

11 on the findings of such investigation with respect to the 

12 effect of the importation of such article in such quantities 

13 or under such circumstances on the national security of 

14 the United States. 

15 ‘‘(B) If the report described in subparagraph (A) in16 cludes an affirmative finding that the importation of an 

17 article in such quantities or under such circumstances 

18 threatens to impair the national security, the President 

19 may direct the Secretary of Commerce to devise rec20 ommendations to address such threat. 

21 ‘‘(C) Not later than 100 days after receiving from 

22 the President under subparagraph (B) a direction to de23 vise recommendations with respect to an article, the Sec24 retary of Commerce, in consultation with the United 

25 States Trade Representative, the Secretary of Defense, 

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1 members of the Committee on Finance of the Senate, and 

2 members of the Committee on Ways and Means of the 

3 House of Representatives, shall submit to the President 

4 a report that includes— 

5 ‘‘(i) recommendations for action or inaction 

6 under this section with respect to the article; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) the findings of the Secretary of Commerce 

8 with respect to the investigation by the Secretary of 

9 Defense under paragraph (1). 

10 ‘‘(D) Any portion of the report submitted by the Sec11 retary of Defense under subparagraph (A) or the report 

12 submitted by the Secretary of Commerce under subpara13 graph (C) that does not contain classified information or 

14 proprietary information shall be published in the Federal 

15 Register.’’; and 

16 (D) in paragraph (4), by inserting ‘‘of De17 fense, in consultation with the Secretary of 

18 Commerce,’’ after ‘‘The Secretary’’; 

19 (2) in subsection (c)(1), by striking subpara20 graph (A) and inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(A) Not later than 60 days after receiving rec22 ommendations submitted under subsection (b)(3)(C)(i) 

23 with respect to an article, the President shall— 

24 ‘‘(i) decide whether to take action based on 

25 such recommendations; and 

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1 ‘‘(ii) if the President decides to take action 

2 under clause (i), determine the nature and duration 

3 of the action to be taken to adjust the imports of the 

4 article and its derivatives so that such imports will 

5 not threaten to impair the national security.’’; 

6 (3) by redesignating the second subsection (d) 

7 as subsection (e); 

8 (4) in subsection (d)— 

9 (A) by striking ‘‘the Secretary and the 

10 President’’ each place it appears and inserting 

11 ‘‘the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of 

12 Commerce, and the President’’; and 

13 (B) by inserting ‘‘, the production of which 

14 is needed for national defense requirements and 

15 critical infrastructure in the United States’’ 

16 after ‘‘welfare of individual domestic indus17 tries’’; and 

18 (5) in subsection (e)(1), as redesignated by 

19 paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘Secretary’’ and inserting 

20 ‘‘Secretary of Defense’’. 

21 (b) CONGRESSIONAL DISAPPROVAL OF PRESI22 DENTIAL ACTION.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 232(f) of the Trade 

24 Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862(f)) is 

25 amended— 

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1 (A) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘of pe2 troleum, or petroleum products’’; and 

3 (B) in paragraph (2)(B)— 

4 (i) by striking ‘‘petroleum imports’’ 

5 and inserting ‘‘imports’’; and 

6 (ii) by striking ‘‘of petroleum or pe7 troleum products’’. 

8 (2) APPLICABILITY.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

10 subparagraph (B), subsection (f) of section 232 

11 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 

12 1862), as amended by paragraph (1), shall 

13 apply to adjustments of imports under that sec14 tion on or after July 1, 2018. 

15 (B) EXCEPTION.—Subsection (f) of section 

16 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 

17 U.S.C. 1862), as amended by paragraph (1), 

18 shall not apply to the presidential actions taken 

19 under that section on March 8, 2018, relating 

20 to the adjustment of imports of steel and alu21 minum, or any subsequent actions (including 

22 proclamations, Executive orders, or other Exec23 utive acts) relating to those presidential actions. 

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