II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 691 

To provide for congressional review of the imposition of duties and other 

trade measures by the executive branch, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 10, 2021 

Mr. LEE (for himself, Mr. MORAN, and Mr. PAUL) introduced the following 

bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide for congressional review of the imposition of 

duties and other trade measures by the executive branch, 

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 ‘‘Global Trade Account5 ability Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF UNILATERAL TRADE 

7 ACTIONS. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 5 of title I of the Trade 

9 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191 et seq.) is amended by add10 ing at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 155. CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW OF UNILATERAL 

2 TRADE ACTIONS. 

3 ‘‘(a) UNILATERAL TRADE ACTION DEFINED.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In this section, the term 

5 ‘unilateral trade action’ means any of the following 

6 actions taken with respect to the importation of an 

7 article pursuant to a provision of law specified in 

8 paragraph (2): 

9 ‘‘(A) A prohibition on importation of the 

10 article. 

11 ‘‘(B) The imposition of or an increase in a 

12 duty applicable to the article. 

13 ‘‘(C) The imposition or tightening of a tar14 iff-rate quota applicable to the article. 

15 ‘‘(D) The imposition or tightening of a 

16 quantitative restriction on the importation of 

17 the article. 

18 ‘‘(E) The suspension, withdrawal, or pre19 vention of the application of trade agreement 

20 concessions with respect to the article. 

21 ‘‘(F) Any other restriction on importation 

22 of the article. 

23 ‘‘(2) PROVISIONS OF LAW SPECIFIED.—The 

24 provisions of law specified in this paragraph are the 

25 following: 

26 ‘‘(A) Section 122. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Chapter 1 of title II. 

2 ‘‘(C) Title III. 

3 ‘‘(D) Section 406. 

4 ‘‘(E) Section 338 of the Tariff Act of 1930 

5 (19 U.S.C. 1338). 

6 ‘‘(F) Section 232 of the Trade Expansion 

7 Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862). 

8 ‘‘(G) Section 103(a) of the Bipartisan 

9 Congressional Trade Priorities and Account10 ability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4202(a)). 

11 ‘‘(H) The Trading with the Enemy Act (50 

12 U.S.C. 4301 et seq.). 

13 ‘‘(I) The International Emergency Eco14 nomic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.). 

15 ‘‘(J) Any provision of law enacted to im16 plement a trade agreement to which the United 

17 States is a party. 

18 ‘‘(K) Any provision of a trade agreement 

19 to which the United States is a party. 

20 ‘‘(3) EXCEPTION FOR TECHNICAL CORRECTIONS

21 TO HARMONIZED TARIFF SCHEDULE.—A technical 

22 correction to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the 

23 United States shall not be considered a unilateral 

24 trade action for purposes of this section. 


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1 ‘‘(b) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL REQUIRED.—A 

2 unilateral trade action may not take effect unless— 

3 ‘‘(1) the President submits to Congress and to 

4 the Comptroller General of the United States a re5 port that includes— 

6 ‘‘(A) a description of the proposed unilat7 eral trade action; 

8 ‘‘(B) the proposed effective period for the 

9 action; 

10 ‘‘(C) an economic cost-benefit analysis of 

11 the action, including an assessment of— 

12 ‘‘(i) whether the action is in the na13 tional economic interest of the United 

14 States; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) the macroeconomic effects of the 

16 action on— 

17 ‘‘(I) employment in the United 

18 States; 

19 ‘‘(II) the gross domestic product 

20 of the United States; and 

21 ‘‘(III) revenues and expenditures 

22 of the Federal Government; and 

23 ‘‘(D) a list of articles that will be affected 

24 by the action by subheading number of the 


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1 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 

2 States; and 

3 ‘‘(2) a joint resolution of approval is enacted 

4 pursuant to subsection (d) with respect to the ac5 tion. 

6 ‘‘(c) REPORT OF COMPTROLLER GENERAL.—Not 

7 later than 30 days after the submission of the report re8 quired by subsection (b)(1) with respect to a proposed uni9 lateral trade action, the Comptroller General shall submit 

10 to Congress a report on the proposed action that includes 

11 an assessment of the compliance of the President with the 

12 provision of law specified in subsection (a)(2) pursuant to 

13 which the action would be taken. 

14 ‘‘(d) PROCEDURES FOR JOINT RESOLUTION OF AP15 PROVAL.— 

16 ‘‘(1) JOINT RESOLUTION OF APPROVAL DE17 FINED.—For purposes of this subsection, the term 

18 ‘joint resolution of approval’ means a joint resolution 

19 of either House of Congress that— 

20 ‘‘(A) states that Congress approves an ac21 tion proposed by the President in a report sub22 mitted under subsection (b)(1); and 

23 ‘‘(B) describes the action being approved 

24 by Congress. 


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1 ‘‘(2) INTRODUCTION.—During the period of 45 

2 days after a House of Congress receives a report 

3 under subsection (b)(1) with respect to a unilateral 

4 trade action, a joint resolution of approval may be 

5 introduced by any Member of that House. 

6 ‘‘(3) COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION.— 

7 ‘‘(A) REFERRAL.—A joint resolution of ap8 proval introduced in the House of Representa9 tives shall be referred to the Committee on 

10 Ways and Means and a joint resolution of ap11 proval introduced in the Senate shall be re12 ferred to the Committee on Finance. 

13 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATION.—The Committee on 

14 Ways and Means and the Committee on Fi15 nance may, in considering a joint resolution of 

16 approval, hold such hearings and meetings and 

17 solicit such testimony as the Committee con18 siders appropriate. 

19 ‘‘(C) REPORTING.— 

20 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subject to sub21 paragraph (D), the Committee on Ways 

22 and Means and the Committee on Finance 

23 may, at any time after receiving a joint 

24 resolution of approval, report the resolu25 tion favorably or unfavorably. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) SUBSEQUENT RESOLUTIONS.—If 

2 a subsequent joint resolution of approval 

3 relating to the same unilateral trade action 

4 proposed in the same report submitted 

5 under subsection (b)(1) is referred to the 

6 Committee on Ways and Means or the 

7 Committee on Finance after the first such 

8 resolution is reported or discharged, the 

9 subsequent resolution shall not be reported 

10 under this subparagraph. 

11 ‘‘(iii) PLACEMENT ON CALENDAR.—A 

12 joint resolution of approval reported by the 

13 Committee on Ways and Means or the 

14 Committee on Finance shall lie over one 

15 legislative day and then be placed on the 

16 appropriate calendar. 

17 ‘‘(D) DISCHARGE.— 

18 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—If the Committee 

19 on Ways and Means or the Committee on 

20 Finance has not reported a joint resolution 

21 of approval by the date that is 15 days 

22 after the resolution is referred to the com23 mittee, the resolution shall be automati24 cally discharged from the committee and 

25 placed on the appropriate calendar. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) PROHIBITION ON MOTIONS TO

2 RECOMMIT.—A motion to recommit a joint 

3 resolution of approval shall not be in order. 

4 ‘‘(iii) SUBSEQUENT RESOLUTIONS.—If 

5 a subsequent joint resolution of approval 

6 relating to the same unilateral trade action 

7 proposed in the same report submitted 

8 under subsection (b)(1) is referred to the 

9 Committee on Ways and Means or the 

10 Committee on Finance after the first such 

11 resolution is reported or discharged, the 

12 subsequent resolution shall not be dis13 charged under this subparagraph. 

14 ‘‘(4) FLOOR CONSIDERATION IN SENATE.—In 

15 the Senate: 

16 ‘‘(A) MOTION TO PROCEED.— 

17 ‘‘(i) TIMING.—A motion to proceed to 

18 a joint resolution of approval is in order at 

19 any time after the resolution is placed on 

20 the calendar. 

21 ‘‘(ii) MOTION BY ANY SENATOR.—Any 

22 Senator may move to proceed to a joint 

23 resolution of approval. 

24 ‘‘(iii) PRIVILEGE.—A motion to pro25 ceed to the consideration of the joint resoVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:48 Apr 07, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S691.IS S691

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1 lution of approval is privileged, except that 

2 this clause shall apply only to a motion to 

3 proceed to a joint resolution of approval 

4 reported or discharged from the Committee 

5 on Finance under paragraph (3) or to the 

6 first joint resolution of approval placed on 

7 the calendar after passage in the House of 

8 Representatives. 

9 ‘‘(iv) DEBATE.—Debate on a motion 

10 to proceed to a joint resolution of approval 

11 is limited to not more than 5 hours, equal12 ly divided between Senators favoring and 

13 Senators opposing the resolution. 

14 ‘‘(v) MOTION NOT AMENDABLE.—The 

15 motion to proceed to the joint resolution of 

16 approval is not amendable. A motion to re17 consider is not in order. A motion to table 

18 is not in order. 

19 ‘‘(vi) OTHER MOTIONS NOT IN

20 ORDER.—After a motion to proceed to a 

21 joint resolution of approval is agreed to, 

22 motions to postpone or to consider other 

23 business are not in order. 

24 ‘‘(B) MOTIONS AND APPEALS.—All mo25 tions and appeals relating to a joint resolution 


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1 of approval shall be decided by the Senate with2 out debate. 

3 ‘‘(5) CONSIDERATION IN HOUSE OF REP4 RESENTATIVES.—In the House of Representatives, if 

5 any committee to which a joint resolution of ap6 proval has been referred has not reported it to the 

7 House at the end of 10 calendar days after its intro8 duction, such committee shall be discharged from 

9 further consideration of the joint resolution, and it 

10 shall be placed on the appropriate calendar. On 

11 Thursdays it shall be in order at any time for the 

12 Speaker to recognize a Member who favors passage 

13 of a joint resolution that has appeared on the cal14 endar for at least 3 calendar days to call up that 

15 joint resolution for immediate consideration in the 

16 House without intervention of any point of order. 

17 When so called up, a joint resolution shall be consid18 ered as read and shall be debatable for 1 hour equal19 ly divided and controlled by the proponent and an 

20 opponent, and the previous question shall be consid21 ered as ordered to its passage without intervening 

22 motion. It shall not be in order to reconsider the 

23 vote on passage. If a vote on final passage of the 

24 joint resolution has not been taken on or before the 

25 close of the 10th calendar day after the resolution 


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1 is reported by the committee or committees to which 

2 it was referred, or after such committee or commit3 tees have been discharged from further consideration 

4 of the resolution, such vote shall be taken on that 

5 day. 

6 ‘‘(6) RECEIPT OF RESOLUTION FROM OTHER

7 HOUSE.—If, before passing a joint resolution of ap8 proval, one House receives from the other a joint 

9 resolution of approval from the other House, then— 

10 ‘‘(A) the joint resolution of the other 

11 House shall not be referred to a committee and 

12 shall be deemed to have been discharged from 

13 committee on the day it is received; and 

14 ‘‘(B) the procedures set forth in paragraph 

15 (4) or (5), as applicable, shall apply in the re16 ceiving House to the joint resolution received 

17 from the other House to the same extent as 

18 such procedures apply to a joint resolution of 

19 the receiving House. 

20 ‘‘(7) RULES OF HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

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

23 ‘‘(A) as an exercise of the rulemaking 

24 power of the House of Representatives and the 

25 Senate, respectively, and as such is deemed a 


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1 part of the rules of each House, respectively, 

2 and the rules provided for in this section super3 sede other rules only to the extent that they are 

4 inconsistent with such other rules; and 

5 ‘‘(B) with the full recognition of the con6 stitutional right of either House to change the 

7 rules provided for in this section (so far as re8 lating to the procedures of that House) at any 

9 time, in the same manner, and to the same ex10 tent as any other rule of that House. 

11 ‘‘(e) REPORT BY THE UNITED STATES INTER12 NATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION.—Not later than 12 

13 months after the date of a unilateral trade action taken 

14 pursuant to this section, the United States International 

15 Trade Commission shall submit to Congress a report on 

16 the effects of the action on the United States economy, 

17 including a comprehensive assessment of the economic ef18 fects of the action on producers and consumers in the 

19 United States.’’. 

20 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

21 for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by inserting after 

22 the item relating to section 154 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 155. Congressional review of unilateral trade actions.’’. 

Æ 


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