I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7571 

To establish a regional trade, investment, and people-to-people partnership 

of countries in the Western Hemisphere to stimulate growth and integration through viable long-term private sector development, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 6, 2024 

Ms. SALAZAR (for herself, Mr. ESPAILLAT, and Mr. GALLAGHER) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and 

Means, and in addition to the Committees on Foreign Affairs, Financial 

Services, the Judiciary, Rules, Energy and Commerce, and Homeland Security, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each 

case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of 

the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To establish a regional trade, investment, and people-topeople partnership of countries in the Western Hemisphere to stimulate growth and integration through viable long-term private sector development, 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; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Americas Act’’. 


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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

2 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definitions. 

TITLE I—ADMINISTRATION 

Sec. 101. Americas Institute for Digital Governance. 

Sec. 102. E-governance framework. 

Sec. 103. Additional duties of Institute. 

Sec. 104. Funding. 

TITLE II—TRADE AND INVESTMENT FOR THE AMERICAS 

Subtitle A—Administration 

Sec. 201. Partnership agreements. 

Sec. 202. Americas Partnership business advisory board. 

Sec. 203. Administration. 

Sec. 204. Americas Partnership Secretariat. 

Sec. 205. Report. 

Subtitle B—Trade 

CHAPTER 1—RE-SHORING AND NEAR-SHORING

Sec. 211. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 212. Incentives for re-shoring and near-shoring of businesses from People’s Republic of China. 

Sec. 213. Tax credit for qualifying re-shoring and near-shoring expenses. 

CHAPTER 2—FREE TRADE EXPANSION

Sec. 221. Tariff reciprocity under GATT 1994. 

Sec. 222. Expansion of USMCA or establishment of other regional trade agreement. 

Sec. 223. Americas Partnership Threshold Program. 

Sec. 224. Expansion of beneficiaries under United States-Caribbean Basin 

Trade Partnership Act. 

Sec. 225. Exclusion of certain countries from certain preferential trade treatment. 

Sec. 226. Extension of trade promotion authority to Americas partner countries 

for purposes of expansion of USMCA. 

CHAPTER 3—TEXTILE AND APPAREL

Sec. 231. Textile and apparel grant program. 

Sec. 232. Textile reuse and recycling programs. 

Sec. 233. Textile production verification teams. 

Sec. 234. Tax benefits for apparel and home textile products. 

CHAPTER 4—TRADE ENFORCEMENT

Sec. 241. Establishment of special enforcement unit of U.S. Customs and Border Protection to monitor the implementation of Uyghur 

Forced Labor Prevention Act. 


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Sec. 242. Authorization of payments to whistleblowers relating to money laundering or illicit financial transactions. 

Sec. 243. Establishment of borders and ports protection program. 

Sec. 244. Establishment of mutual recognition agreements and trade transparency units. 

CHAPTER 5—MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES GRANT PROGRAM

Sec. 245. Medical equipment and supplies grant program. 

Subtitle C—Investment 

Sec. 251. Sense of Congress. 

Sec. 252. BUILD Americas Unit. 

Sec. 253. Americas Partnership Enterprise Fund. 

Sec. 254. Near-shoring of strategic supply chains. 

Sec. 255. Transformational Energy Development. 

Subtitle D—People-to-People Activities 

Sec. 261. Humanitarian and business development assistance. 

Sec. 262. Department of State. 

Sec. 263. Peace Corps. 

Sec. 264. American University of the Americas. 

Sec. 265. United States Agency for International Development Caribbean and 

Latin American Scholarship Program III. 

Sec. 266. Concern for Advanced Retired and Elderly nonimmigrant visa program for aliens who provide direct care for elderly populations. 

Sec. 267. Sense of Congress on TN visa program. 

Sec. 268. Assessment of visa waiver program eligibility for Uruguay and Costa 

Rica. 

Sec. 269. Radio Free Americas. 

Sec. 270. Biennial presidential summit. 

TITLE III—REVENUE AND FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 

Sec. 301. Re-shoring and Near-shoring Account. 

Sec. 302. Modification of treatment of de minimis entries of articles. 

TITLE IV—REPORTING AND BRANDING 

Sec. 401. Annual report on Americas program. 

Sec. 402. Branding and marketing for Americas program. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 In this Act: 

3 (1) AMERICAS PARTNER COUNTRY.—The term 

4 ‘‘Americas partner country’’ means a county that 

5 has entered into a partnership agreement under sec6 tion 201. 


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1 (2) AMERICAS PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘Americas 

2 program’’ means the provision of assistance to and 

3 other activities relating to Americas partner coun4 tries under title II or amendments made by title II. 

5 (3) BUILD AMERICAS UNIT.—The term 

6 ‘‘BUILD Americas Unit’’ means the unit of the 

7 United States International Development Finance 

8 Corporation established under section 1416 of the 

9 BUILD Act of 2018, as added by section 252. 

10 (4) NEAR-SHORE.—The term ‘‘near-shore’’— 

11 (A) with respect to an entity, means to 

move not less than the equivalent of 2 12 ⁄3 of the 

13 operations of the entity from the People’s Re14 public of China to one or more Americas part15 ner countries or other countries as provided for 

16 under title II; and 

17 (B) with respect to a good or service, 

18 means to move not less than the equivalent of 

2 19 ⁄3 of the production of the good or service from 

20 the People’s Republic of China to such coun21 tries. 

22 (5) RE-SHORE.—The term ‘‘re-shore’’— 

23 (A) with respect to an entity, means to 

move not less than the equivalent of 2 24 ⁄3 of the 


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1 operations of the entity from the People’s Re2 public of China to the United States; and 

3 (B) with respect to a good or service, 

4 means to move not less than the equivalent of 

2 5 ⁄3 of the production of the good or service from 

6 the People’s Republic of China to the United 

7 States. 

8 (6) UNITED STATES BUSINESS.—The term 

9 ‘‘United States business’’ means an entity— 

10 (A) organized under the laws of the United 

11 States or any jurisdiction within the United 

12 States; 

13 (B) with its headquarters based in the 

14 United States (as determined on the date that 

15 is 180 days after the date of the enactment of 

16 this Act); and 

17 (C) with more than 25 percent of its busi18 ness inside the United States. 

19 (7) UNITED STATES PERSON.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘United 

21 States person’’ means— 

22 (i) an individual who is a citizen or 

23 resident of the United States; or 


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1 (ii) an entity organized under the laws 

2 of the United States or any jurisdiction 

3 within the United States. 

4 (B) RESIDENT.—For purposes of subpara5 graph (A)(i), an individual is a resident of the 

6 United States if the individual is authorized to 

7 be employed in the United States. 

8 (8) USMCA.—The term ‘‘USMCA’’ has the 

9 meaning given that term in section 3 of the United 

10 States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation 

11 Act (19 U.S.C. 4502). 

12 (9) USMCA COUNTRY.—The term ‘‘USMCA 

13 country’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

14 202(a) of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agree15 ment Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 4531(a))). 

16 TITLE I—ADMINISTRATION 

17 SEC. 101. AMERICAS INSTITUTE FOR DIGITAL GOVERN18 ANCE. 

19 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a non20 profit organization within the United States to be known 

21 as the ‘‘Americas Institute for Digital Governance’’ (in 

22 this title referred as the ‘‘Institute’’), which shall be re23 sponsible for the development and maintenance of the e24 governance framework established under section 102. 

25 (b) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Insti2 tute a Board of Directors (in this section referred to 

3 as the ‘‘Board’’). 

4 (2) MEMBERSHIP.— 

5 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President shall re6 quest the head of government of each Americas 

7 partner country to appoint one member of the 

8 Board. 

9 (B) APPOINTMENT PROCESS.— 

10 (i) UNITED STATES.—The President 

11 shall appoint the member of the Board 

12 representing the United States. 

13 (ii) OTHER COUNTRIES.—The Presi14 dent shall request the head of government 

15 of each Americas partner country to deter16 mine a process for appointing the member 

17 of the Board to represent that country. 

18 (C) TERMS.—A member of the Board shall 

19 serve on the Board for not more than 4 years. 

20 (D) REMOVAL.— 

21 (i) REMOVAL BY COUNTRY REP22 RESENTED.—A member of the Board shall 

23 serve at the discretion of the Americas 

24 partner country the member represents 

25 and may be removed pursuant to a process 


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1 determined by the government of that 

2 country. 

3 (ii) REMOVAL BY BOARD.—A member 

4 of the Board may be removed by a vote of 

2 5 ⁄3 of the members of the Board. 

6 (E) VACANCIES.—In the event that a 

7 member of the Board is removed under sub8 paragraph (D) or dies or is otherwise deemed 

9 unable to serve the remainder of the term of 

10 the member, the government of the Americas 

11 partner country the member represented shall 

12 appoint an individual to serve out the remain13 der of that term pursuant to a process deter14 mined by that government. 

15 (F) ETHICS REQUIREMENTS.— 

16 (i) FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE.—A mem17 ber of the Board shall fully disclose the fi18 nancial assets of the member and divest 

19 from any holdings, such as stocks or other 

20 equities, that relate to any private entity 

21 that conducts business with the Institute. 

22 (ii) BLIND TRUST REQUIREMENT.—A 

23 member of the Board shall place the assets 

24 of the member in a blind trust for the duVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Mar 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7571.IH H7571

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1 ration of the term of the member on the 

2 Board. 

3 (iii) PROHIBITION ON NEPOTISM.—An 

4 individual may not be appointed as a mem5 ber of the Board if a relative of the indi6 vidual is an elected official in an Americas 

7 partner country. 

8 (iv) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS.— 

9 The Board may impose such other ethics 

10 and disclosure requirements as the Board 

11 considers appropriate. 

12 (3) REPRESENTATION.—Each member of the 

13 Board shall have an equal vote in all matters. 

14 (4) MEETINGS; QUORUM.— 

15 (A) FREQUENCY OF MEETINGS.—The 

16 Board shall meet not less frequently than once 

17 every 90 days. 

18 (B) QUORUM.—Members of the Board rep19 resenting a majority of the total votes on the 

20 Board are required to be present to constitute 

21 a quorum. 

22 (5) CHAIRPERSON.—There shall be a chair23 person of the Board, who shall— 

24 (A) be elected by a majority vote of the 

25 Board from among members of the Board; and 


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1 (B) preside over meetings of the Board. 

2 (6) CALCULATION OF VOTES.—For purposes of 

3 determining a majority vote of the Board, vacancies 

4 that have not been filled shall not be counted toward 

5 any total. 

6 (7) ACCESS TO INFORMATION.—A member of 

7 the Board may request information from the Insti8 tute and provide that information to the government 

9 of the Americas partner country the member rep10 resents unless the chairperson of the Board deter11 mines that sharing that information may violate the 

12 privacy of a user of the e-governance system, endan13 ger cyber security, or violate any applicable law. 

14 (c) STAFF.— 

15 (1) CHIEF EXECUTIVE.—There shall be a Chief 

16 Executive of the Institute, who— 

17 (A) shall— 

18 (i) be elected and appointed by the 

19 majority vote of the Board; and 

20 (ii) be vested with the full executive 

21 authority of the Institute; and 

22 (B) may be removed by a majority vote of 

23 the Board. 

24 (2) ADDITIONAL EMPLOYEES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Chief Executive 

2 may— 

3 (i) appoint such employees, including 

4 managers, assistant managers, officers, at5 torneys, and agents, as the Chief Executive 

6 considers necessary; 

7 (ii) define the compensation (subject 

8 to subparagraph (B)) and duties of those 

9 employees; and 

10 (iii) establish a system of organization 

11 to fix responsibility and promote efficiency. 

12 (B) SALARIES.—The salaries of officers 

13 and employees of the Institute shall be equiva14 lent to the salaries provided for under the Gen15 eral Schedule under section 5332 of title 5, 

16 United States Code. 

17 (C) SALARY CAP.—No regular officer or 

18 employee of the Institute may receive a salary 

19 that exceeds the salary of the Chief Executive. 

20 (d) CORPORATE POWERS.—Except as otherwise spe21 cifically provided in this Act, the Institute— 

22 (1) shall have succession in its corporate name; 

23 (2) may sue and be sued in its corporate name; 

24 (3) may adopt and use a corporate seal, which 

25 shall be judicially noticed; 


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1 (4) may make contracts; 

2 (5) may adopt, amend, and repeal bylaws; and 

3 (6) may purchase or lease, hold, and dispose of 

4 such real and personal property as the Institute 

5 deems necessary or convenient in the transaction of 

6 its business. 

7 (e) NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION DEFINED.—In this 

8 section, the term ‘‘nonprofit organization’’ means an orga9 nization— 

10 (1) described in section 501(c)(3) of the Inter11 nal Revenue Code of 1986; and 

12 (2) exempt from tax under section 501(a) of 

13 such Code. 

14 SEC. 102. E-GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK. 

15 (a) DEVELOPMENT.—The Institute shall develop and 

16 maintain a comprehensive e-governance framework for 

17 Americas partner countries. 

18 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the e-governance 

19 framework developed under subsection (a) shall be to allow 

20 for the development of interoperable services to harmonize 

21 and facilitate the delivery of effective and transparent gov22 ernment services within and between Americas partner 

23 countries. 


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1 (c) PRINCIPLES.—In developing the e-governance 

2 framework under subsection (a), the Institute shall ensure 

3 that the framework adheres to the following principles: 

4 (1) INTEROPERABILITY.—The framework shall 

5 be designed to allow different government systems 

6 to, when appropriate, seamlessly share data with 

7 each other, consistent with applicable laws and pri8 vacy restrictions under subsection (d). 

9 (2) DECENTRALIZATION.—The framework 

10 should seek to avoid centralized control over data, 

11 and should allow the government of each Americas 

12 partner country to maintain control over its own 

13 data while still facilitating cross-border data sharing. 

14 Data control and hosting under the framework 

15 should be consistent with local law and international 

16 agreements. Nothing in this paragraph may be con17 strued to contravene or supercede laws or agree18 ments in effect before the date of the enactment of 

19 this Act. 

20 (3) OPEN STANDARDS.—The framework should, 

21 to the greatest extent practicable, be built on open 

22 standards that are freely available to the public. 

23 (4) DATA SOVEREIGNTY.—The framework 

24 should ensure that each Americas partner country 


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1 maintains control over the data of citizens of that 

2 country. 

3 (5) PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS.—The 

4 framework should allow for the collaboration of pub5 lic and private entities in the development, design, 

6 and maintenance of e-governance systems. 

7 (6) OPEN SOURCE.—Systems developed by the 

8 Institute should, to the extent practicable, be open 

9 source. Systems developed by Americas partner 

10 countries are encouraged to be open source as well. 

11 (7) ADAPTATION.—The framework shall ac12 count, consistent with other provisions of this Act, 

13 for existing e-governance systems developed by 

14 Americas partner countries, including by adopting, 

15 in part or in whole, existing e-governance systems as 

16 part of the framework or as reference implementa17 tions within the framework. 

18 (d) PRIVACY.—The e-governance framework devel19 oped under subsection (a) shall incorporate privacy best20 practices, including as follows: 

21 (1) DATA MINIMIZATION.—Systems developed 

22 under the framework should collect only the minimal 

23 set of data necessary for a given purpose and with24 out any additional processing unnecessary for ful25 filling that purpose. 


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1 (2) DATA PROTECTION.—The Institute shall de2 fine necessary access controls for data and require 

3 encryption of data where appropriate. 

4 (3) DATA RETENTION.—The Institute shall de5 velop and publish a data retention policy, which 

6 shall— 

7 (A) be honored by any system operating 

8 under the framework; 

9 (B) include a disclosure of— 

10 (i) what user information is stored by 

11 a particular system; 

12 (ii) whether that information is 

13 encrypted; and 

14 (iii) for how long the information is 

15 stored; and 

16 (C) provide for the Institute to provide, in 

17 a timely fashion, all data held related to an in18 dividual or entity upon the request of the indi19 vidual or entity. 

20 (4) DATA DELETION.—Systems developed 

21 under the framework shall, to the greatest extent 

22 practicable, include a mechanism by which— 

23 (A) a user may request that any system 

24 operating under the framework delete any data 

25 on the user; and 


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1 (B) such a request is honored within 72 

2 hours, except as required by other applicable 

3 law. 

4 (5) DATA CORRECTION.—Systems developed 

5 under the framework shall, to the greatest extent 

6 practicable, incorporate mechanisms under which— 

7 (A) a user may request to correct inac8 curate data in the framework related to the 

9 user; and 

10 (B) such a request is honored within 72 

11 hours after the correct data has been verified. 

12 (6) OTHER PRIVACY PRACTICES.—The Institute 

13 may develop and enforce such other privacy prac14 tices as the Institute considers appropriate. 

15 (e) CYBER SECURITY.—The e-governance framework 

16 developed under subsection (a) shall incorporate cyber se17 curity best practices, including the following: 

18 (1) Appropriate access controls and user au19 thentication, which may— 

20 (A) vary by service according to the sensi21 tivity of the data involved; and 

22 (B) include the integration of any national 

23 electronic identification systems of Americas 

24 partner countries. 


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1 (2) Regular penetration testing by an outside 

2 organization certified by the Institute, to be con3 ducted not less frequently than once a year. 

4 (3) Provision of a common vulnerability disclo5 sure policy for systems operating under the frame6 work. 

7 (4) Such other cyber security best practices as 

8 the Institute considers appropriate. 

9 (f) ENFORCEMENT.— 

10 (1) AUDITS.—Each system of an Americas 

11 partner country operating under the e-governance 

12 framework developed under subsection (a) shall un13 dergo annual audits by an outside organization cer14 tified by the Institute. That audit shall assess the 

15 compliance of the system with the privacy and secu16 rity requirements of this section and such other re17 quirements as the Institute considers necessary. 

18 (2) EFFECT OF NONCOMPLIANCE.—If an audit 

19 conducted under paragraph (1) indicates that a sys20 tem or systems of an Americas partner country are 

21 substantially noncompliant with the privacy and se22 curity requirements of this section, the Institute 

23 may— 

24 (A) designate the system or systems as 

25 noncompliant; 


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1 (B) recommend that other Americas part2 ner countries take such actions as may be nec3 essary to protect the privacy and security of the 

4 systems and data of those countries; and 

5 (C) withhold, in part or in whole, further 

6 assistance to the country the system or systems 

7 of which are designated as noncompliant, in8 cluding revoking privileges or access to any 

9 services or shared infrastructure of the Insti10 tute, until such a time as the Institute deter11 mines that the system or systems are compli12 ant. 

13 (3) ALLOWANCES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE.— 

14 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Institute may cer15 tify as partially or wholly compliant any system 

16 of an Americas partner country if the Institute 

17 determines that the country is making a good 

18 faith effort at compliance, but has not fully 

19 achieved compliance with all the requirements 

20 of this section. 

21 (B) ELEMENTS.—A certification under 

22 subparagraph (A) may include a certification 

23 that a system is temporarily compliant— 

24 (i) during— 


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1 (I) the development of the sys2 tem; 

3 (II) partial deployments of the 

4 system; or 

5 (III) deployments of minimum 

6 viable products; or 

7 (ii) if the Institute determines that 

8 compliance with the requirements of this 

9 section would substantially hinder the abil10 ity of a country to effectively provide crit11 ical services to citizens of the country and 

12 there is no practical path to achieve com13 pliance and effectively provide such serv14 ices. 

15 (4) SUSPENSION OF PARTNERSHIP.—If the par16 ticipation of a country in a partnership agreement is 

17 suspended under section 201(d), the Institute— 

18 (A) may terminate the provision of any 

19 services or assistance to the country; and 

20 (B) may take such steps as are necessary 

21 to ensure any systems affected by the termi22 nation are transitioned appropriately to mini23 mize disruptions to the citizens of that country. 

24 (g) MULTILINGUAL FUNCTIONALITY.—The Institute 

25 shall ensure that all resources necessary to develop sysVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Mar 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7571.IH H7571

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1 tems compliant with the e-governance framework devel2 oped under subsection (a) are available in all necessary 

3 languages. 

4 SEC. 103. ADDITIONAL DUTIES OF INSTITUTE. 

5 (a) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.—The Institute 

6 shall seek to promote collaboration between Americas 

7 partner countries on the development, standardization, 

8 and deployment of e-governance systems, including such 

9 systems developed outside the e-governance framework de10 veloped under section 102 and systems developed before 

11 the implementation of this Act. 

12 (b) DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.—The Institute shall be 

13 responsible for assisting Americas partner countries in the 

14 development and deployment of e-governance systems in 

15 compliance with the e-governance framework developed 

16 under section 102. Such assistance may include the fol17 lowing: 

18 (1) The development or adoption, in collabora19 tion with appropriate national and international 

20 standards organizations, of technical standards nec21 essary to promote the efficient development of sys22 tems under the framework. 

23 (2) The development of reference implementa24 tions for e-government services, as the Institute con25 siders appropriate. 


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1 (3) The development and maintenance of infra2 structure that may be shared by multiple services, 

3 including across multiple Americas partner coun4 tries, as the Institute and such countries consider 

5 appropriate. 

6 (4) Providing technical assistance to Americas 

7 partner countries in the development of services, 

8 which may include entering into contracts for devel9 oping and hosting services on behalf of such coun10 tries. Such contracts may include terms for an 

11 Americas partner country to provide the Institute 

12 with funding for development and hosting services. 

13 (5) The procurement or licensing, as the Insti14 tute considers appropriate, of commercial technology 

15 that may be shared with Americas partner countries 

16 and used for the delivery of services. 

17 (6) Providing for the certification of organiza18 tions to carry out the auditing and penetration test19 ing required by section 102(e). 

20 (7) Partnering with private sector entities for 

21 the provision, development, maintenance, or hosting 

22 of services, or other such assistance as the Institute 

23 considers necessary. 

24 (8) Providing financing to facilitate the develop25 ment or modernization of a system, subject to such 


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1 accountability mechanisms as the Institute considers 

2 necessary to ensure funds are spent efficiently and 

3 appropriately. 

4 (9) Accounting for the development of emerging 

5 technologies, including artificial intelligence, and, to 

6 the extent necessary, incorporating such technologies 

7 into systems developed by or with Americas partner 

8 countries or making recommendations for how those 

9 countries may incorporate or regulate such tech10 nologies. 

11 (10) Other matters as the Institute considers 

12 appropriate. 

13 (c) PROCUREMENT RESTRICTION.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Institute shall ensure 

15 that no system or product operating under the e16 governance framework developed under section 102 

17 is involved in any contract for the development of a 

18 service as part of the e-governance framework, or 

19 shares any data, with an individual or entity resid20 ing in or acting on behalf of the Russian Federation, 

21 the People’s Republic of China, Iran, North Korea, 

22 Venezuela, Cuba, or such other countries as the In23 stitute considers necessary to protect the privacy 

24 and security of the citizens of Americas partner 

25 countries. 


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1 (2) AUTHORITY TO EXCLUDE OTHER INDIVID2 UALS, ENTITIES, AND PRODUCTS.—The Institute 

3 may, as the Institute considers necessary to protect 

4 the privacy and security of the citizens of Americas 

5 partner countries, prohibit any system described in 

6 paragraph (1) from entering into any contract for 

7 the development of a service as part of the e-govern8 ance framework, or sharing any data— 

9 (A) with an individual or entity that does 

10 not reside in a country described in paragraph 

11 (1); or 

12 (B) using a product not from such a coun13 try. 

14 SEC. 104. FUNDING. 

15 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR INSTI16 TUTE.—There are authorized to be appropriated 

17 $10,000,000 to establish the Institute. 

18 (b) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—Such sums as may be 

19 necessary to carry out this title shall be made available 

20 from the Re-shoring and Near-shoring Account estab21 lished under section 301. 


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1 TITLE II—TRADE AND INVEST2 MENT FOR THE AMERICAS 

3 Subtitle A—Administration 

4 SEC. 201. PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS. 

5 (a) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO PARTNERSHIP

6 AGREEMENTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State may 

8 enter into partnership agreements with countries in 

9 the Western Hemisphere, which shall serve as the 

10 gateway into accession of additional countries to the 

11 USMCA under section 222. 

12 (2) INCLUSIONS.—A partnership agreement en13 tered into under paragraph (1) shall include protec14 tions for democracy and human rights and anti-cor15 ruption measures consistent with the Inter-American 

16 Democratic Charter and the International Covenant 

17 on Civil and Political Rights. 

18 (3) CONSULTATIONS.—The Secretary shall— 

19 (A) consult with Congress during negotia20 tions for a partnership agreement under para21 graph (1); and 

22 (B) notify Congress not less than 15 days 

23 before signing the partnership agreement. 


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1 (4) INELIGIBLE COUNTRIES.—The Secretary 

2 may not enter into a partnership agreement under 

3 paragraph (1) with a country— 

4 (A) that is a member of the Bolivarian Al5 liance for the Peoples of Our America; 

6 (B) the government of which is listed 

7 under subparagraph (C) of section 110(b)(1) of 

8 the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 

9 (22 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) (commonly referred to 

10 as ‘‘tier 3’’) in the most recent report on traf11 ficking in persons required under such section 

12 (commonly referred to as the ‘‘Trafficking in 

13 Persons Report’’); or 

14 (C) the government of which is not— 

15 (i) committed to the fight against ter16 rorism; or 

17 (ii) in compliance with the terms of 

18 the Inter-American Democratic Charter of 

19 the Organization of American States. 

20 (b) COMMITMENTS.—A partner country shall commit 

21 to abide by the terms of the partnership agreement en22 tered into under subsection (a). 

23 (c) SUSPENSION.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State shall 

25 move to suspend the participation of a country in a 


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1 partnership agreement entered into under subsection 

2 (a) at the end of the one-year period beginning on 

3 the date on which the Secretary of State, in coordi4 nation with the heads of other relevant agencies and 

5 upon consultation with Congress, determines that 

6 the country is in violation of the commitments of the 

7 country under subsection (b) or is ineligible under 

8 subsection (a)(4), unless the country comes into 

9 compliance with those commitments and becomes eli10 gible before the end of that period. 

11 (2) NOTIFICATION TO THE SECRETARIAT.— 

12 Upon making a determination described in para13 graph (1) with respect to a country, the Secretary 

14 of State shall provide a notice of the determination, 

15 to be considered at the next scheduled meeting of 

16 the Americas Partnership Secretariat established 

17 under section 204, along with a list of deficiencies 

18 the government of the country could remedy to come 

19 back into compliance with the commitments of the 

20 country under subsection (b) and to become eligible 

21 under subsection (a)(4). The text of the notice and 

22 the list shall be provided to— 

23 (A) the permanent representative of the 

24 government of the country at the Secretariat; 


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1 (B) the government of each Americas part2 ner country; and 

3 (C) the Committee on Finance of the Sen4 ate and the Committee on Ways and Means of 

5 the House of Representatives. 

6 (3) VISIT REQUIRED.—Before the Secretary of 

7 State makes a motion under paragraph (1) with re8 spect to a country, the Deputy Assistant Secretary 

9 of State for the Americas Partnership established 

10 under section 203(c)(1) shall seek a formal visit 

11 from the Americas Partnership Secretariat to the 

12 country to explain the reasons for the motion under 

13 paragraph (1). 

14 (4) EFFECT OF SUSPENSION.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—If the participation of a 

16 country in a partnership agreement entered into 

17 under subsection (a) is suspended under para18 graph (1)— 

19 (i) the provisions of this title and the 

20 amendments made by this title shall not 

21 apply with respect to the country during 

22 the period of suspension; and 

23 (ii) the Secretary of State shall use 

24 the voice and vote of the United States in 

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1 sure the government of that country to 

2 take the actions necessary to come into 

3 compliance with the eligibility requirements 

4 under subsection (c). 

5 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—The sus6 pension of the participation of a country in a 

7 partnership agreement under paragraph (1) 

8 may not be construed to affect the relationship 

9 of that country to any country, other than the 

10 United States, that is a party or a potential 

11 party to the USMCA. 

12 (d) INITIAL PARTNER COUNTRIES.—The first coun13 tries with which the Secretary of State shall seek to enter 

14 into partnership agreements under subsection (a) shall be 

15 countries identified under the Americas Partnership for 

16 Economic Prosperity (APEP) executive program that are 

17 not ineligible under subsection (a)(4). 

18 (e) COUNTRIES SEEKING PARTNERSHIP AGREE19 MENTS.— 

20 (1) NOTIFICATION.—A country seeking to enter 

21 into a partnership agreement under subsection (a) 

22 shall submit a notification to the Secretary of State 

23 indicating the desire of the country to enter into 

24 such an agreement. 

25 (2) RESPONSE.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

2 days after receiving a notification under para3 graph (1) from a country, the Secretary shall— 

4 (i) make a determination with respect 

5 to whether or not to enter into a partner6 ship agreement with the country; and 

7 (ii) notify the country of the deter8 mination. 

9 (B) INCLUSION IN NEGATIVE RESPONSE.— 

10 If the Secretary determines under subpara11 graph (A) not to enter into a partnership agree12 ment with a country, the Secretary shall notify 

13 the country in writing of the reasons for the de14 termination and the steps the country can take 

15 to become eligible for a partnership agreement. 

16 (f) GRANT PROGRAM.—The Secretary of State may 

17 provide grants, using amounts available for other grant 

18 programs of the Department of State, to countries to as19 sist those countries to become eligible for partnership 

20 agreements under this section. 

21 SEC. 202. AMERICAS PARTNERSHIP BUSINESS ADVISORY 

22 BOARD. 

23 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Americas Partnership 

24 Secretariat established under section 204 shall establish 

25 a business advisory board, which will meet periodically, on 


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1 an ad hoc basis, at the Secretariat to inform discussions 

2 on the business environments of Americas partner coun3 tries. 

4 (b) COMPOSITION.—The business advisory board es5 tablished under subsection (a) shall be composed of rep6 resentatives of private sector entities, civil society organi7 zations, and labor organizations from Americas partner 

8 countries. 

9 (c) ADVISORY TOPICS.—The business advisory board 

10 established under subsection (a) may provide advice to 

11 Americas partner countries through the Secretariat on the 

12 following topics relating to the business environment in 

13 Americas partner countries: 

14 (1) Regulatory hurdles. 

15 (2) Labor issues. 

16 (3) Dispute resolution challenges. 

17 (4) Legal hurdles to investment. 

18 (5) Alignment on regulation related to key 

19 emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence. 

20 (6) Harmonization of reference price systems. 

21 (7) Other issues affecting the business commu22 nity in Americas partner countries. 

23 (d) COORDINATION.—The business advisory board 

24 established under subsection (a) shall coordinate with the 


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1 central regulatory coordinating bodies referred to in Arti2 cle 28.3 of the USMCA. 

3 (e) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not less frequently than an4 nually, the business advisory board established under sub5 section (a) shall submit to the Secretariat a report on the 

6 business environment in Americas partner countries, in7 cluding opportunities and challenges to investment. 

8 SEC. 203. ADMINISTRATION. 

9 (a) DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.— 

10 (1) DEPUTY UNDER SECRETARY OF COM11 MERCE.— 

12 (A) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the 

13 International Trade Administration of the De14 partment of Commerce a Deputy Under Sec15 retary responsible for administration of the re16 sponsibilities of the Department of Commerce 

17 under this title. 

18 (B) WORKING GROUP.—The Deputy Under 

19 Secretary established under subparagraph (A) 

20 shall establish a permanent working group, 

21 composed of representatives of the relevant 

22 agencies, to collaborate on matters relating to 

23 the administration of this title and the amend24 ments made by this title. 


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1 (2) INTERNATIONAL TRADE ADMINISTRA2 TION.—The Under Secretary may increase the num3 ber of employees of the International Trade Admin4 istration by the number necessary to administer this 

5 title and the amendments made by this title. 

6 (3) UNITED STATES AND FOREIGN COMMER7 CIAL SERVICE.— 

8 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Director General 

9 of the United States and Foreign Commercial 

10 Service (established by section 2301 of the Ex11 port Enhancement Act of 1988 (15 U.S.C. 

12 4721)) may assign additional commercial 

13 attache ́s to serve at the United States embas14 sies in each Americas partner countries to over15 see coordination and reporting under partner16 ship agreements entered into under section 201. 

17 (B) ROLE OF COMMERCIAL ATTACHE ́S.—A 

18 commercial attache ́ assigned to an Americas 

19 partner country under subparagraph (A) 

20 shall— 

21 (i) coordinate with the Department of 

22 the Treasury with respect to loans pro23 vided under section 212(a) to incentivize 

24 re-shoring and near-shoring; 


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1 (ii) be the lead officer on the country 

2 team, under the Chief of Mission, respon3 sible for implementation of the partnership 

4 agreement entered into under section 201 

5 with that country; and 

6 (iii) carry out such other duties as the 

7 Director General or the Chief of Mission 

8 may assign for successful implementation 

9 of the Americas program. 

10 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—There shall be available 

12 to the Secretary of Commerce, from the Re13 shoring and Near-shoring Account established 

14 under section 301, $10,000,000 for each of fis15 cal years of 2024, 2025, and 2026 to admin16 ister this title and the amendments made by 

17 this title. 

18 (B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts 

19 made available pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

20 shall be available until expended. 

21 (b) OFFICE OF UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENT22 ATIVE.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be in the Office 

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1 sistant United States Trade Representative for the 

2 Americas Partnership, who shall— 

3 (A) be responsible for negotiations with re4 spect to— 

5 (i) the accession of countries to the 

6 USMCA pursuant to the mechanism devel7 oped pursuant to section 222(b); and 

8 (ii) designation of Americas partner 

9 countries as CBTPA beneficiary countries 

10 (as defined in section 213(b)(5) of the Car11 ibbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, as 

12 amended by section 224); 

13 (B) hire the staff necessary to support ne14 gotiations described in subparagraph (A); and 

15 (C) coordinate closely with the Under Sec16 retary with respect to administration of this 

17 title. 

18 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

19 (A) IN GENERAL.—There shall be available 

20 to the United States Trade Representative, 

21 from the Re-shoring and Near-shoring Account 

22 established under section 301, $5,000,000 for 

23 each of fiscal years of 2024, 2025, and 2026 to 

24 administer this title and the amendments made 

25 by this title. 


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1 (B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts 

2 made available pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

3 shall be available until expended. 

4 (c) DEPARTMENT OF STATE.— 

5 (1) DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR THE

6 AMERICAS PARTNERSHIP.—There shall be in the Bu7 reau for Western Hemisphere Affairs of the Depart8 ment of State a Deputy Assistant Secretary for the 

9 Americas Partnership, who— 

10 (A) may be the United States representa11 tive to the Americas Partnership Secretariat; 

12 and 

13 (B) shall, in coordination with the Under 

14 Secretary, coordinate people-to-people efforts 

15 under this title on behalf of the Department of 

16 State. 

17 (2) ADDITIONAL CIVIL SERVICE OFFICERS.— 

18 The Secretary of State may hire sufficient civil serv19 ice officers to fulfill the successful management of 

20 the efforts described in paragraph (1). 

21 (3) ADDITIONAL FOREIGN AFFAIRS OFFI22 CERS.—The Secretary of State may hire additional 

23 foreign affairs officers, relative to the number of 

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1 ment of this Act, to support the implementation of 

2 this title. 

3 (4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—There shall be available 

5 to the Secretary of State, from the Re-shoring 

6 and Near-shoring Account established under 

7 section 301, $10,000,000 for each of fiscal 

8 years of 2024, 2025, and 2026 to administer 

9 this title and the amendments made by this 

10 title. 

11 (B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts 

12 made available pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

13 shall be available until expended. 

14 (d) UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL

15 DEVELOPMENT.— 

16 (1) DEPUTY ASSISTANT ADMINISTRATOR FOR

17 THE AMERICAS PARTNERSHIP.—There shall be in 

18 the Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean of 

19 the United States Agency for International Develop20 ment a Deputy Assistant Administrator for the 

21 Americas Partnership, who shall, in coordination 

22 with the Under Secretary, coordinate development, 

23 humanitarian, and people-to-people efforts under 

24 this title on behalf of the United States Agency for 

25 International Development. 


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1 (2) ADDITIONAL FOREIGN SERVICE OFFICERS

2 AND OTHER EMPLOYEES.—The Administrator of the 

3 United States Agency for International Development 

4 may hire additional foreign service officers, relative 

5 to the number of such officers on the day before the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act, to support the im7 plementation of this title. 

8 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—There shall be available 

10 to the Administrator, from the Re-shoring and 

11 Near-shoring Account established under section 

12 301, $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years of 

13 2024, 2025, and 2026 to administer this title 

14 and the amendments made by this title. 

15 (B) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts 

16 made available pursuant to subparagraph (A) 

17 shall be available until expended. 

18 (e) OTHER BUREAUS AND OFFICES.—The Presi19 dent— 

20 (1) may establish such additional bureaus and 

21 offices as the President considers appropriate to im22 plement this title; and 

23 (2) shall ensure that a description of any such 

24 bureaus and offices is included in the annual report 

25 required by section 205. 


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1 (f) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts shall be 

2 made available to carry out this section from the Re-shor3 ing and Near-shoring Account established under section 

4 301. 

5 SEC. 204. AMERICAS PARTNERSHIP SECRETARIAT. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 day after 

7 the date of the enactment of this Act, there shall be estab8 lished in the United States the ‘‘Americas Partnership 

9 Secretariat’’ (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Secre10 tariat’’). 

11 (b) DUTIES.—The Secretariat shall be responsible for 

12 duties including— 

13 (1) coordinating diplomatic, economic, and peo14 ple-to-people efforts of the Americas partner coun15 tries under this title and the amendments made by 

16 this title; 

17 (2) carrying out efforts to build and advance 

18 partnerships between city mayors and other sub19 national government leaders from Americas partner 

20 countries, civil society organizations, and private sec21 tor entities to expand subnational diplomacy; and 

22 (3) providing policy and technical support 

23 through dialogue, research, and other structured en24 gagements. 


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1 (c) MEMBERSHIP.—The membership of the Secre2 tariat shall be comprised of representatives from the gov3 ernments of Americas partner countries. Selection of such 

4 representatives shall be determined by the governments of 

5 the Americas partner countries. 

6 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—There shall be available to 

8 the Secretariat, from the Re-shoring and Near-shor9 ing Account established under section 301, 

10 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years of 2024, 2025, 

11 and 2026 to carry out the duties of the Secretariat 

12 under this title and the amendments made by this 

13 title. 

14 (2) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Amounts made 

15 available pursuant to subparagraph (A) shall be 

16 available until expended. 

17 SEC. 205. REPORT. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

20 the Under Secretary shall submit to the appropriate con21 gressional committees a report on efforts carried out 

22 under this title. 

23 (b) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEES

24 DEFINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate con25 gressional committees’’ means— 


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1 (1) the Committee on Finance and the Com2 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and 

3 (2) the Committee on Ways and Means and the 

4 Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Rep5 resentatives. 

6 Subtitle B—Trade 

7 CHAPTER 1—RE-SHORING AND NEAR8 SHORING 

9 SEC. 211. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—It is the sense of Congress that 

11 the re-shoring and near-shoring of industry from China 

12 into the United States is in the national security interest 

13 of the United States and therefore falls under the national 

14 security exceptions under article XXI of the GATT 1994. 

15 (b) GATT 1994 DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

16 ‘‘GATT 1994’’ has the meaning given that term in section 

17 2 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 

18 3501). 

19 SEC. 212. INCENTIVES FOR RE-SHORING AND NEAR-SHOR20 ING OF BUSINESSES FROM PEOPLE’S REPUB21 LIC OF CHINA. 

22 (a) LOANS AND GRANTS.— 

23 (1) LENDING AUTHORITY.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may 

25 provide loans to covered entities. 


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1 (B) AMOUNT.—The total amount of loans 

2 that may be provided under subparagraph (A) 

3 may not exceed $60,000,000,000. 

4 (C) COVERAGE OF LOANS.—Loans pro5 vided to covered entities under subparagraph 

6 (A) may be used for— 

7 (i) the costs of moving inventory, 

8 equipment, and supplies from the People’s 

9 Republic of China to the United States, an 

10 Americas partner country, or another 

11 country benefitting from a strategic supply 

12 chain identified under section 254; 

13 (ii) the costs of training workers in 

14 the United States, an Americas partner 

15 country, or a country benefitting from a 

16 strategic supply chain identified under sec17 tion 254; 

18 (iii) the costs of constructing facilities 

19 in the United States, an Americas partner 

20 country, or a country benefitting from a 

21 strategic supply chain identified under sec22 tion 254; 

23 (iv) other costs directly related to re24 shoring or near-shoring; or 


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1 (v) loans, guarantees, and other in2 struments (excluding grants) approved by 

3 the BUILD Americas Unit or the Amer4 icas Enterprise Fund designated under 

5 section 253. 

6 (2) GRANT AUTHORITY.— 

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com8 merce shall administer a grant program to 

9 award grants to covered entities. 

10 (B) FUNDING.—Funding for grants under 

11 the grant program required under subpara12 graph (A) shall be derived solely from the Re13 Shoring and Near-Shoring Account established 

14 under section 301. 

15 (3) ADMINISTRATION.— 

16 (A) IN THE UNITED STATES.—The Sec17 retary or the Secretary of Commerce, as the 

18 case may be, may enter into arrangements with 

19 commercial banks, credit unions, or other enti20 ties in the United States as identified by the 

21 Secretary to administer loans authorized under 

22 paragraph (1) or grants authorized under para23 graph (2) for covered entities to re-shore. 

24 (B) OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.—The 

25 Secretary or the Secretary of Commerce, as the 


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1 case may be, may enter into arrangements with 

2 the BUILD Americas Unit or regional banks to 

3 administer loans authorized under paragraph 

4 (1) or grants authorized under paragraph (2) 

5 for covered entities to near-shore. 

6 (C) DEPOSIT OF INTEREST.—The Sec7 retary shall deposit any profits earned on inter8 est bearing loans authorized under paragraph 

9 (1) in the Re-Shoring and Near-Shoring Ac10 count established under section 301. 

11 (D) REPORT.—Not later than one year 

12 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

13 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report on 

14 the progress of the arrangements entered into 

15 under this paragraph. 

16 (4) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year 

18 after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

19 annually thereafter, the Board of Governors of 

20 each commercial bank with respect to which the 

21 Secretary or the Secretary of Commerce has en22 tered into an arrangement under paragraph (4) 

23 and the BUILD Americas Unit shall submit to 

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1 tration by each such entity of loans or grants 

2 under this subsection, including— 

3 (i) a description of the loans issued or 

4 grants awarded; 

5 (ii) the repayment rates for any such 

6 loans; 

7 (iii) an assessment of successful re8 shoring and near-shoring projects; 

9 (iv) a description of any lessons 

10 learned; and 

11 (v) the balance sheets for any such 

12 loans. 

13 (B) TRANSMITTAL TO CONGRESS.—The 

14 Under Secretary of Commerce for International 

15 Trade shall include the information provided in 

16 reports under subparagraph (A) in the annual 

17 report required under section 401. 

18 (b) DUTY-FREE STATUS.—Notwithstanding any 

19 other provision of law, covered entities approved under 

20 subsection (c) are eligible for a one-time duty-free import 

21 of articles into the United States that are imported for 

22 the sole and express purposes of re-shoring or near-shor23 ing. 

24 (c) PROCESS FOR APPROVAL.— 


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1 (1) NOTICE.—An entity that seeks to re-shore 

2 or near-shore may submit notice of the intent of the 

3 entity to re-shore or near-shore, as the case may be, 

4 along with such paperwork as the Secretary may 

5 consider appropriate demonstrating that intent. 

6 (2) APPROVAL.—The Secretary, in consultation 

7 with the Trade Representative, shall approve entities 

8 that have submitted notice under paragraph (1) to 

9 re-shore or near-shore pursuant to such procedures 

10 as the Secretary considers appropriate. 

11 (3) USE OF CONTRACTOR.—If an entity uses a 

12 contract company for the production of goods or 

13 services in the People’s Republic of China, the ap14 proval of the entity under paragraph (2) shall not 

15 take effect until the entity notifies the Secretary and 

16 the Secretary confirms that a replacement contract 

17 has been awarded in the United States or an Amer18 icas partner country. 

19 (d) TERMINATION AND PENALTY.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para21 graph (4), a covered entity approved under sub22 section (c) to re-shore or near-shore shall have 5 

23 years following that approval to complete re-shoring 

24 or near-shoring, as the case may be, of the business 


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1 of that entity, which may include the moving of ma2 terials, personnel, and production. 

3 (2) TERMINATION OF BENEFITS.—Except as 

4 provided in paragraph (4), a covered entity is not el5 igible for benefits under this section on or after the 

6 date that is 5 years after the date on which the enti7 ty is approved under subsection (d). 

8 (3) PENALTY.—Except as provided in para9 graph (4), at the end of the 5-year period under 

10 paragraph (1), a covered entity that has not com11 pleted the re-shoring or near-shoring, as the case 

12 may be, of the business of the entity shall owe to the 

13 United States— 

14 (A) the total amount of duties the entity 

15 would have owed for imports into the United 

16 States but for the application of subsection (b); 

17 (B) the total amount of any other benefits 

18 accrued to the entity under this section, as de19 termined by the Secretary in consultation with 

20 the Trade Representative; and 

21 (C) a penalty equal to 10 percent of the 

22 amounts determined under subparagraphs (A) 

23 and (B). 


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1 (4) EXTENSION AND WAIVER.—If the Secretary 

2 determines that extraordinary circumstances exist, 

3 on a case-by-case basis, the Secretary may— 

4 (A) extend by a period of two years the 

5 deadlines under paragraphs (1) and (2); or 

6 (B) waive the amounts owed under para7 graph (3). 

8 (e) TREATMENT OF DEFAULTS.— 

9 (1) JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS.—The United 

10 States shall disregard any ruling against a covered 

11 entity or a government of an Americas partner coun12 try that pertains to a default on obligations in the 

13 People’s Republic of China relating to re-shoring or 

14 near-shoring activities approved under this section. 

15 (2) INTERNATIONAL VENUES.—The President 

16 shall use the voice and vote of the United States at 

17 multilateral institutions to— 

18 (A) oppose the consideration of defaults on 

19 obligations in the People’s Republic of China 

20 relating to re-shoring or near-shoring activities 

21 approved under this section when measuring 

22 credit ratings of covered entities; and 

23 (B) disregard sovereign debt defaults and 

24 other similar actions when measuring credit 

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1 ing to debts and amounts received from the 

2 People’s Republic of China. 

3 (f) FINDINGS AND SENSE OF CONGRESS.— 

4 (1) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following 

5 findings: 

6 (A) The United States Trade Representa7 tive stated in a hearing that, ‘‘The United 

8 States has repeatedly sought and obtained com9 mitments from China, only to find that follow10 through or real change remains elusive.’’. 

11 (B) The Government of the People’s Re12 public of China continues to apply the rules 

13 only when they are beneficial to them. 

14 (2) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of 

15 Congress that— 

16 (A) companies approved for re-shoring or 

17 near-shoring by the Secretary should be pro18 tected from legal asset forfeiture by the Peo19 ple’s Republic of China; and 

20 (B) covered entities and transactions by 

21 covered entities are subject to the national secu22 rity exceptions under article XXI of the GATT 

23 1994 (as defined in section 2 of the Uruguay 

24 Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501)). 

25 (g) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) COVERED ENTITY.—The term ‘‘covered en2 tity’’ means an entity that has submitted notice of 

3 the intent of the entity to re-shore or near-shore 

4 under subsection (c)(1) and has been approved for 

5 re-shoring or near-shoring under subsection (c)(2). 

6 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

8 (3) TRADE REPRESENTATIVE.—The term 

9 ‘‘Trade Representative’’ means the United States 

10 Trade Representative. 

11 SEC. 213. TAX CREDIT FOR QUALIFYING RE-SHORING AND 

12 NEAR-SHORING EXPENSES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subpart D of part IV of sub14 chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

15 1986 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

16 section: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 45BB. QUALIFYING RE-SHORING AND NEAR-SHORING 

18 EXPENSES. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of section 38, the 

20 qualifying re-shoring and near-shoring expense credit for 

21 any taxable year is an amount equal to the sum of— 

22 ‘‘(1) 50 percent of the qualified re-shoring 

23 project expenses of the taxpayer, and 

24 ‘‘(2) 35 percent of the qualified near-shoring 

25 project expenses of the taxpayer. 


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1 ‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section— 

2 ‘‘(1) QUALIFYING RE-SHORING PROJECT EX3 PENSES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualifying 

5 re-shoring project expenses’ means any eligible 

6 expenses which are— 

7 ‘‘(i) made pursuant to a qualified re8 shoring project, and 

9 ‘‘(ii) certified by the Secretary under 

10 subsection (c) as eligible for the credit 

11 under this section. 

12 ‘‘(B) QUALIFYING RE-SHORING

13 PROJECT.—The term ‘qualifying re-shoring 

project’ means a project under which 2 14 ⁄3 or 

15 more of the operations of a trade or business of 

16 the taxpayer is moved from the People’s Repub17 lic of China to the United States. 

18 ‘‘(2) QUALIFYING NEAR-SHORING PROJECT EX19 PENSES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualifying 

21 near-shoring project expenses’ means any eligi22 ble expenses which are— 

23 ‘‘(i) made pursuant to a qualified 

24 near-shoring project, and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) certified by the Secretary under 

2 subsection (c) as eligible for the credit 

3 under this section. 

4 ‘‘(B) QUALIFYING NEAR-SHORING

5 PROJECT.—For purposes of this subpart, the 

6 term ‘qualifying near-shoring project’ means a 

project under which 2 7 ⁄3 or more of the oper8 ations of a trade or business of the taxpayer is 

9 moved from the People’s Republic of China to 

10 an Americas partner country. 

11 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE EXPENSES.—The term ‘eligible 

12 expenses’ means any expenses paid or incurred in 

13 connection with moving the operations of the trade 

14 or businesses. 

15 ‘‘(4) AMERICAS PARTNER COUNTRY.—For pur16 poses of this section, the term ‘Americas partner 

17 country’ has the meaning given such term under sec18 tion 2 of the Americas Act. 

19 ‘‘(c) QUALIFYING RE-SHORING AND NEAR-SHORING

20 PROJECT PROGRAM.— 

21 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 

23 days after the date of enactment of this section, 

24 the Secretary, in consultation with the United 

25 States Trade Representative, shall establish a 


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1 qualifying re-shoring and near-shoring project 

2 program to consider and award certifications 

3 for eligible expenses among taxpayers with 

4 qualifying re-shoring projects and qualifying 

5 near-shoring projects. 

6 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.— 

7 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The total amount 

8 of credits that may be allocated under the 

9 program shall not exceed $10,000,000,000. 

10 ‘‘(ii) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the 

11 sense of Congress that the limitation under 

12 clause (i) should be increased after the 

13 date on which the Secretary notifies the 

14 Committee on Finance of the Senate and 

15 the Committee on Ways and Means of the 

16 House of Representatives that 80 percent 

17 of such limitation has been allocated. 

18 ‘‘(2) CERTIFICATION.— 

19 ‘‘(A) APPLICATION PERIOD.—Each appli20 cant for certification under this paragraph shall 

21 submit an application containing such informa22 tion as the Secretary may require. 

23 ‘‘(B) TIME FOR MAKING EXPENSES.—Each 

24 applicant for certification shall have 5 years 

25 from the date of acceptance by the Secretary of 


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1 the application to pay or incur the eligible ex2 penses certified under the program. 

3 ‘‘(3) SELECTION CRITERIA.—In determining 

4 which qualifying re-shoring projects and qualifying 

5 near-shoring projects to certify under this section, 

6 the Secretary— 

7 ‘‘(A) shall take into consideration— 

8 ‘‘(i) projects which create strategic 

9 supply chains, products, or entities (as 

10 identified under section 254(b) of the 

11 Americas Act) within the United States, 

12 ‘‘(ii) projects which create strategic 

13 supply chains, products, or entities (as so 

14 identified) within an Americas partner 

15 country, and 

16 ‘‘(iii) projects which create other in17 dustries within the United States or a 

18 Americas partner country, 

19 ‘‘(B) shall take into consideration which 

20 projects— 

21 ‘‘(i) will provide the greatest domestic 

22 job creation (both direct and indirect), 

23 ‘‘(ii) will create capital investment, 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(iii) will increase manufacturing. 


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1 ‘‘(4) DISCLOSURE OF ALLOCATIONS.—The Sec2 retary shall, upon making a certification under this 

3 subsection, publicly disclose the identity of the appli4 cant and the amount of the credit with respect to 

5 such applicant. 

6 ‘‘(d) RECAPTURE.— 

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If there is an applicable 

8 transaction before the close of the 10-year period be9 ginning with the first day of the taxable year for 

10 which a credit is allowed under this section, then the 

11 tax under this chapter for the taxable year in which 

12 such transaction occurs shall be increased by the ag13 gregate decrease in the credits allowed under section 

14 38 for all prior taxable years which would have re15 sulted solely from reducing to zero any credit deter16 mined under subsection (a). 

17 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

18 apply if the applicable taxpayer demonstrates to the 

19 satisfaction of the Secretary that the applicable 

20 transaction has been ceased or abandoned within 45 

21 days of a determination and notice by the Secretary. 

22 ‘‘(3) APPLICABLE TRANSACTION.—The term 

23 ‘applicable transaction’ means, any significant trans24 action (as determined by the Secretary, in coordina25 tion with the Secretary of Commerce and the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Mar 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00054 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7571.IH H7571

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1 retary of Defense) involving the material expansion 

2 in the People’s Republic of China of the operations 

3 of the same or similar a trade or business with re4 spect to which the qualifying re-shoring project or 

5 qualifying near-shoring project relates. 

6 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS AND GUIDANCE.—The Sec7 retary shall issue such regulations or other guidance 

8 as the Secretary determines necessary or appropriate 

9 to carry out the purposes of this paragraph, includ10 ing regulations or other guidance which provide for 

11 requirements for recordkeeping or information re12 porting for purposes of administering the require13 ments of this paragraph. 

14 ‘‘(e) DENIAL OF DOUBLE BENEFIT.— 

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In the case of the amount 

16 of the credit determined under this section, no de17 duction or credit shall be allowed for such amount 

18 under any other provision of this chapter. 

19 ‘‘(2) BASIS ADJUSTMENT.—For purposes of 

20 this subtitle, if a credit is allowed under this section 

21 with respect to any property, the basis of such prop22 erty shall be reduced by the amount of the credit so 

23 allowed. 


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1 ‘‘(f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall prescribe 

2 regulations necessary to carry out the purposes of this sec3 tion.’’. 

4 (b) CREDIT TO BE PART OF GENERAL BUSINESS

5 CREDIT.—Subsection (b) of section 38 of the Internal 

6 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ‘‘plus’’ at 

7 the end of paragraph (40), by striking the period at the 

8 end of paragraph (41) and inserting ‘‘, plus’’, and by add9 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(42) the qualifying re-shoring and near-shor11 ing expense credit determined under section 

12 45BB(a).’’. 

13 (c) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections 

14 for subpart D of part IV of subchapter A of chapter 1 

15 of such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 45BB. Qualifying re-shoring and near-shoring expenses.’’. 

17 (d) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

18 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in tax19 able years beginning after the date of the enactment of 

20 this Act. 

21 CHAPTER 2—FREE TRADE EXPANSION 

22 SEC. 221. TARIFF RECIPROCITY UNDER GATT 1994. 

23 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con24 gress that— 


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1 (1) the United States has one of the lowest ap2 plied duty rates in the world, with bound duty rates 

3 set in parity to applied rates; 

4 (2) in using article XXVIII of GATT 1994 to 

5 renegotiate bound duty rates, the United States can 

6 gain flexibility in its tariff schedules, which will pro7 vide certainty to treaty-based tariff countries under 

8 free trade agreements and provide maneuverability 

9 in the case of egregious behavior by other WTO 

10 members, including the People’s Republic of China; 

11 and 

12 (3) having the lowest bound duty rates has re13 sulted in unsustainable trade deficits that have be14 come an issue for the national security of the United 

15 States. 

16 (b) INCREASE OF RATES AND RECIPROCITY.— 

17 (1) INCREASE OF RATES.—The Trade Rep18 resentative shall increase average bound duty rates 

19 to reflect reciprocal duty rates on goods listed under 

20 the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 

21 States among WTO members. 

22 (2) APPLICATION.—In increasing bound duty 

23 rates under paragraph (1), the Trade Representative 

24 is not required to raise applied duty rates. 

25 (c) NEGOTIATIONS TO INCREASE DUTIES.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Trade Representative 

2 shall commence negotiations under article XXVIII of 

3 GATT 1994 to increase bound duty rates on all 

4 goods. 

5 (2) PRIORITIZING.—In carrying out negotia6 tions under paragraph (1), the Trade Representative 

7 shall— 

8 (A) prioritize the increase of bound duty 

9 rates on— 

10 (i) goods entering the United States 

11 from countries identified as bad faith ac12 tors by the Secretary of the Treasury for 

13 exclusion of deminimis access; and 

14 (ii) goods entering the United States 

15 causing significant harm to industry in the 

16 United States, as determined by the Trade 

17 Representative; and 

18 (B) commit to increase rates of duties on 

19 imports into the United States if other coun20 tries do not decrease their rates in line with 

21 those rates in Schedule XX, including through 

22 consideration of national averages of duty reci23 procity. 

24 (d) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 


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1 (1) APPLIED DUTY RATE.—The term ‘‘applied 

2 duty rate’’ means the actual duty rate applied to a 

3 good. 

4 (2) BOUND DUTY RATE.—The term ‘‘bound 

5 duty rate’’ means the maximum duty rate that may 

6 be applied to a good. 

7 (3) GATT 1994; SCHEDULE XX; WTO MEM8 BER.—The terms ‘‘GATT 1994’’, ‘‘Schedule XX’’, 

9 and ‘‘WTO member’’ have the meanings given those 

10 terms in section 2 of the Uruguay Round Agree11 ments Act (19 U.S.C. 3501). 

12 (4) TRADE REPRESENTATIVE.—The term 

13 ‘‘Trade Representative’’ means the United States 

14 Trade Representative. 

15 SEC. 222. EXPANSION OF USMCA OR ESTABLISHMENT OF 

16 OTHER REGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENT. 

17 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con18 gress that— 

19 (1) the USMCA represents the gold standard 

20 for trade agreements, to which other trade agree21 ments should aspire; 

22 (2) the accession of additional high-standard 

23 economies to the USMCA would represent a benefit 

24 both to the Western Hemisphere and to the United 

25 States; 


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1 (3) the periodic review of the USMCA required 

2 in 2026 represents an opportunity to negotiate with 

3 USMCA countries to create an adhesion mechanism 

4 for advanced economies in the Western Hemisphere 

5 to join the USMCA; 

6 (4) Costa Rica and Uruguay, both high-income 

7 countries as defined by the World Bank, represent 

8 ideal candidates to pilot an accession process for the 

9 USMCA, due to— 

10 (A) the stated desire of those countries to 

11 join the USMCA; 

12 (B) the advanced state of the economies of 

13 those countries as determined by the 

14 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 

15 Development; and 

16 (C) the comparatively small nature of the 

17 populations and economies of those countries; 

18 (5) the United States, working closely with 

19 USMCA countries and other free trade agreement 

20 partners in the Western Hemisphere, should study 

21 the potential benefits of aligning rules of origin and 

22 allowing for cumulation in strategically selected sec23 tors; and 

24 (6) unless expressly stated otherwise, no Amer25 icas partner country will be required to join the 


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1 USMCA as a condition of accepting any benefits af2 forded to Americas partner countries under this Act. 

3 (b) DEVELOPMENT OF ACCESSION MECHANISM.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States Trade 

5 Representative, in conducting the periodic review of 

6 the USMCA required to be conducted in 2026, may 

7 seek agreement with USMCA countries to develop a 

8 mechanism for accession of additional countries to 

9 the USMCA. 

10 (2) TREATMENT OF TEXTILES AND APPAREL

11 GOODS.— 

12 (A) RULES OF ORIGIN.—For purposes of 

13 the accession to the USMCA pursuant to the 

14 mechanism developed under paragraph (1), the 

15 rules of origin under the USMCA for textile 

16 and apparel goods shall not go into effect or 

17 otherwise be applicable to textile and apparel 

18 goods of an Americas partner country that ac19 cedes to the USMCA during— 

20 (i) the 15-year period following formal 

21 accession of that country to the USMCA; 

22 and 

23 (ii) an additional 5-year period if de24 termined appropriate pursuant to the 

25 study conducted under subparagraph (B). 


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1 (B) STUDY ON TEXTILE AND APPAREL IM2 PACT.—Not later than 12 years after the acces3 sion of an Americas partner country to the 

4 USMCA pursuant to the mechanism developed 

5 under paragraph (1), the United States Inter6 national Trade Commission shall commission a 

7 study to analyze the negative and positive im8 pacts of that accession on— 

9 (i) the textile and apparel sector of 

10 the country that joined the USMCA; 

11 (ii) the United States textile and ap12 parel sector; 

13 (iii) the textile and apparel sectors of 

14 all countries that are Americas partner 

15 countries at the time when the study is 

16 commissioned; and 

17 (iv) the textile and apparel sectors of 

18 all six Latin American and Caribbean 

19 countries that belonged to the Dominican 

20 Republic-Central America-United States 

21 Free Trade Agreement as of February 

22 2024, referring to Costa Rica, the Domini23 can Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, 

24 Honduras, and Nicaragua. 

25 (c) STUDY.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treas2 ury shall conduct a study on the feasibility and ad3 visability of expanding the USMCA or carrying out 

4 other trade-related approaches for— 

5 (A) harmonization; 

6 (B) cumulation; 

7 (C) co-creation; and 

8 (D) intra-regional trade, investment, and 

9 standards harmonization. 

10 (2) REPORT.—Not later than one year after the 

11 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

12 the Treasury shall submit to Congress a report on 

13 the study conducted under paragraph (1). 

14 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con15 gress that Americas partner countries that benefit from 

16 free trade agreements with the United States or trade 

17 preferences programs of the United States will retain the 

18 benefits and responsibilities of those agreements until and 

19 unless they accede to the USMCA through the process de20 veloped pursuant to this section. 

21 SEC. 223. AMERICAS PARTNERSHIP THRESHOLD PROGRAM. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 

23 Department of Commerce a program to be known as the 

24 Americas Partnership Threshold Program under which 

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1 ner countries that express an interest in potentially acced2 ing to the USMCA— 

3 (1) to prepare those countries for a possible 

4 process for accession to the USMCA; 

5 (2) to bring those countries up to the standards 

6 of the USMCA; and 

7 (3) no Americas partner country will be re8 quired to join the USMCA as a condition of accept9 ing benefits under this section. 

10 (b) ASSESSMENT.— 

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the program 

12 required under subsection (a), the United States 

13 Trade Representative shall conduct an assessment of 

14 each Americas partner country related to the trade15 related standards of each such country, which shall 

16 include— 

17 (A) an identification of shortcomings that 

18 would impede accession to the USMCA; and 

19 (B) a programmatic strategy to bring each 

20 such country into compliance with the stand21 ards of the USMCA. 

22 (2) SUBMISSION OF ASSESSMENT.—The United 

23 States Trade Representative shall submit any as24 sessment conducted under paragraph (1) to— 


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1 (A) the Deputy Under Secretary of Com2 merce for International Trade and the Execu3 tive Secretariat of the Department of Com4 merce; and 

5 (B) the Committee on Finance of the Sen6 ate and the Committee on Ways and Means of 

7 the House of Representatives. 

8 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—The Secretary of Commerce, 

9 in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Ad10 ministrator of the United States Agency for International 

11 Development, shall implement this section through acqui12 sition or assistance mechanisms. 

13 (d) FUNDING.—Amounts required to carry out this 

14 section shall be derived from the Re-Shoring and Near15 Shoring Account established under section 301. 

16 SEC. 224. EXPANSION OF BENEFICIARIES UNDER UNITED 

17 STATES-CARIBBEAN BASIN TRADE PARTNER18 SHIP ACT. 

19 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con20 gress that trade preferences under the Caribbean Basin 

21 Economic Recovery Act (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.) should 

22 be extended to Americas partner countries that do not 

23 benefit from any trade preference agreement with the 

24 United States as a stop-gap measure before accession to 


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1 the USMCA or another regional trade agreement under 

2 section 222. 

3 (b) EXPANSION.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 213(b)(5)(B) of the 

5 Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (19 U.S.C. 

6 2703(b)(5)(B)) is amended— 

7 (A) in the matter preceding clause (i)— 

8 (i) by striking ‘‘means any’’ and in9 serting ‘‘means Uruguay, Ecuador, and 

10 any’’; and 

11 (ii) by inserting ‘‘or Americas partner 

12 country, as defined in section 2 of the 

13 Americas Act,’’ before ‘‘which the Presi14 dent’’; and 

15 (B) in clause (i), in the matter preceding 

16 subclause (I), by striking ‘‘beneficiary’’. 

17 (2) NEGOTIATION.—In negotiating any expan18 sion to trade preferences under the Caribbean Basin 

19 Economic Recovery Act (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.), 

20 the United States Trade Representative shall ex21 clude preferences for goods that harm producers in 

22 the United States. 


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1 SEC. 225. EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN COUNTRIES FROM CER2 TAIN PREFERENTIAL TRADE TREATMENT. 

3 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, countries 

4 that are members of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peo5 ples of Our America, as determined by the President, are 

6 ineligible for preferential trade treatment pursuant to— 

7 (1) section 213(b) of the Caribbean Basin Eco8 nomic Recovery Act (19 U.S.C. 2703(b)); 

9 (2) any provision of, or amendment made by, 

10 this Act; and 

11 (3) any free trade agreement with respect to 

12 which the United States is a party. 

13 SEC. 226. EXTENSION OF TRADE PROMOTION AUTHORITY 

14 TO AMERICAS PARTNER COUNTRIES FOR 

15 PURPOSES OF EXPANSION OF USMCA. 

16 (a) AGREEMENTS REGARDING TARIFF BARRIERS.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of advancing 

18 trade with Americas partner countries, whenever the 

19 President determines that one or more existing du20 ties or other import restrictions of an Americas part21 ner country or the United States are unduly bur22 dening and restricting the foreign trade of the 

23 United States and that the purposes, policies, prior24 ities, and objectives of expanding the USMCA to in25 clude that country will be promoted thereby, the 

26 President— 


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1 (A) may enter into trade agreements with 

2 an Americas partner country for the purposes 

3 of the accession of that country into the 

4 USMCA; and 

5 (B) may proclaim such modification or 

6 continuance of any existing duty, such continu7 ance of existing duty free or excise treatment, 

8 or such additional duties as the President deter9 mines to be required or appropriate to carry out 

10 that trade agreement. 

11 (2) CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL.—The Presi12 dent shall seek approval from Congress to enter into 

13 a trade agreement under this subsection. 

14 (b) AGREEMENTS REGARDING TARIFF AND NON15 TARIFF BARRIERS.— 

16 (1) AGREEMENTS.— 

17 (A) IN GENERAL.—Whenever the Presi18 dent determines that one or more existing du19 ties or any other import restriction of an Amer20 icas partner country or the United States or 

21 any other barrier to, or other distortion of, 

22 international trade unduly burdens or restricts 

23 the foreign trade of the United States or ad24 versely affects the United States economy or 

25 the imposition of any such barrier or distortion 


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1 is likely to result in such a burden, restriction, 

2 or effect, and that the purposes, policies, prior3 ities, and objectives of expanding the USMCA 

4 to include that country will be promoted there5 by, the President may enter into a trade agree6 ment described in subparagraph (B). 

7 (B) TRADE AGREEMENT DESCRIBED.—A 

8 trade agreement described in this subparagraph 

9 is a trade agreement with an Americas partner 

10 country or Americas partner countries pro11 viding for— 

12 (i) the reduction or elimination of a 

13 duty, restriction, barrier, or other distor14 tion; or 

15 (ii) the prohibition of, or limitation on 

16 the imposition of, such barrier or other dis17 tortion. 

18 (2) CONDITIONS.—A trade agreement may be 

19 entered into under this subsection only if such 

20 agreement makes progress in meeting the objectives 

21 of the USMCA and the Caribbean Basin Economic 

22 Recovery Act (19 U.S.C. 2701 et seq.). 

23 (3) BILLS QUALIFYING FOR TRADE AUTHORI24 TIES PROCEDURES.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of sec2 tion 151 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

3 2191) apply to a bill of either House of Con4 gress that contains provisions described in sub5 paragraph (B) to the same extent as such sec6 tion 151 applies to implementing bills under 

7 that section. 

8 (B) PROVISIONS DESCRIBED.—The provi9 sions described in this subparagraph are— 

10 (i) a provision approving a trade 

11 agreement entered into under this sub12 section and approving the statement of ad13 ministrative action, if any, proposed to im14 plement such trade agreement; and 

15 (ii) if changes in existing laws or new 

16 statutory authority are required to imple17 ment that trade agreement, only those pro18 visions as are strictly necessary or appro19 priate to implement that trade agreement, 

20 either repealing or amending existing laws 

21 or providing new statutory authority. 

22 (c) NEGOTIATIONS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may carry 

24 out negotiations with Americas partner countries for 


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1 purposes of entering into a trade agreement under 

2 this section. 

3 (2) SECTORS.—Sectors included in negotiations 

4 under paragraph (1) shall include agriculture, crit5 ical minerals, commercial services, intellectual prop6 erty rights, industrial and capital goods, government 

7 procurement, information technology products, envi8 ronmental technology and services, medical equip9 ment and services, civil aircraft, digital products and 

10 services, emerging technologies, and infrastructure 

11 products. 

12 (3) CONSIDERATION OF NEGOTIATING OBJEC13 TIVES.—In conducting negotiations under paragraph 

14 (1), the President shall take into account all of the 

15 negotiating objectives set forth in section 102 of the 

16 Bipartisan Congressional Trade Priorities and Ac17 countability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4201). 

18 (d) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

19 the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually there20 after, the President shall submit to the Committee on Fi21 nance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and 

22 Means of the House of Representatives a report on the 

23 implementation of this section, including— 


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1 (1) a description of any negotiations entered 

2 into with countries that seek to accede to the 

3 USMCA; 

4 (2) a description of any negotiations entered 

5 into with countries that seek to be a CBTPA bene6 ficiary country, as defined in section 213(b)(5) of 

7 the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (19 

8 U.S.C. 2703(b)(5)), as amended by section 224; 

9 (3) a description of any trade agreements en10 tered into pursuant to the authority under this sec11 tion; and 

12 (4) a full list of duties and duty-free items 

13 under trade agreements entered into pursuant to the 

14 authority under this section. 

15 CHAPTER 3—TEXTILE AND APPAREL 

16 SEC. 231. TEXTILE AND APPAREL GRANT PROGRAM. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall 

18 establish a program under which the Secretary shall award 

19 grants to textile or apparel manufacturers that either have 

20 their headquarters in the United States or in an Americas 

21 partner country or that are determined by the Secretary 

22 to have a significant presence in an Americas partner 

23 country to help offset the considerable financial resources 

24 needed to expand or modernize domestic textile and ap25 parel supply chain capacity. 


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1 (b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—A textile or apparel 

2 manufacturer in receipt of a grant awarded under this sec3 tion shall use the amounts of that grant for new facilities 

4 or equipment, to retool old equipment, or to create or ex5 pand operations for textile and apparel production in the 

6 United States or an Americas partner country. 

7 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this section, 

8 the Secretary— 

9 (1) shall permit advances of grant amounts to 

10 manufacturers— 

11 (A) prior to making qualifying expendi12 tures; or 

13 (B) as qualifying expenditures are made; 

14 (2) shall require a manufacturer to comply with 

15 safety, labor, and environmental standards specified 

16 by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary 

17 of Labor, the Administrator of the Environmental 

18 Protection Agency, and the Director of the National 

19 Institute of Standards and Technology; and 

20 (3) may scale the amount of a grant depending 

21 on incremental employment achieved by the manu22 facturer. 

23 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

24 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

25 $105,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2025 through 


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1 2029 to carry out the program under this section. 

2 Amounts authorized to be appropriated under this sub3 section are authorized to be obligated and expended in 

4 both the United States and in Americas partner countries. 

5 SEC. 232. TEXTILE REUSE AND RECYCLING PROGRAMS. 

6 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con7 gress that— 

8 (1) textiles make up more than 10 percent of 

9 global greenhouse gas emissions; and 

10 (2) textiles are the single most common product 

11 made with slave labor in the People’s Republic of 

12 China. 

13 (b) PRIORITY ACCESS TO GRANTS AND LOANS FOR

14 TEXTILE REUSE AND RECYCLING.—The Secretary of the 

15 Treasury shall give priority access to grants or loans of 

16 amounts under the Re-Shoring and Near-Shoring Account 

17 established under section 301 for persons seeking to carry 

18 out programs to reuse or recycle covered products. 

19 (c) MANUFACTURING SUPPORT PROGRAMS.— 

20 (1) FACILITIES AND TRANSPORT.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com22 merce shall establish a program under which 

23 the Secretary provides grants and loans for the 

24 purpose of establishing new or expanding or 

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1 carbon emissions transportation for collection, 

2 drop off or mail back, sorting, pre-processing, 

3 reuse, or recycling of covered products. 

4 (B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA5 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

6 $250,000,000 to carry out the program re7 quired under subparagraph (A). 

8 (2) PROVISION OF COMPONENTS AND MACHIN9 ERY.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com11 merce shall establish a program under which 

12 the Secretary provides grants and loans to enti13 ties for the provision of components, chemicals, 

14 solvents, or machinery necessary for the trans15 portation, collection, mail back, sorting, pre16 processing, reuse, or recycling of covered prod17 ucts. 

18 (B) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA19 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

20 $250,000,000 to carry out the program re21 quired under subparagraph (A). 

22 (d) INNOVATION PROGRAM.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall carry 

24 out an innovation program for research and develop25 ment related to textile reuse and recycling. 


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1 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated 

3 $250,000,000 to carry out the innovation program 

4 required under paragraph (1). 

5 (e) PUBLIC EDUCATION PROGRAM.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall carry 

7 out a public education program on the dangers of 

8 fast fashion. 

9 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

10 There is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 

11 to carry out the public education program required 

12 under paragraph (1). 

13 (f) RECYCLED CERTIFICATION PROCESS.—For pur14 poses of carrying out this section, the President shall en15 sure that all recycled finished textiles are certified under 

16 a globally recognized independent third-party assurance 

17 process. 

18 (g) FUNDING.—The Secretary of State may expend 

19 such sums as may be necessary from the Re-shoring and 

20 Near-shoring Account established under section 301 to 

21 carry out this section. 

22 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

23 (1) COVERED PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘covered 

24 product’’ means— 


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1 (A) textiles that are no longer wanted by 

2 an individual after purchase or cannot be sold 

3 by a business through retail; 

4 (B) recycled secondary textile raw mate5 rials and fibers; or 

6 (C) recycled finished textile products. 

7 (2) PRE-PROCESSING.—The term ‘‘pre-proc8 essing’’, with respect to a covered product, means 

9 preparing that product to be fit for recycling, which 

10 may include detrimming or other manual, mechan11 ical, or chemical means. 

12 (3) RECYCLE.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘recycle’’, 

14 with respect to covered products, means signifi15 cantly transforming those products into new 

16 finished or unfinished goods for use of those 

17 products in that form. 

18 (B) TRANSFORMATION.—A transformation 

19 under subparagraph (A) can take place through 

20 the deconstruction of a covered product for use 

21 in manufacturing new materials out of that 

22 product, whether through mechanical or ad23 vanced recycling methods. 

24 (C) CERTIFICATION.—A covered product 

25 qualifies as a recycled good for purposes of this 


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1 paragraph as certified by a globally recognized 

2 independent third-party assurance process man3 aged according to the waste hierarchy for waste 

4 management developed by the United Nations 

5 and the Environmental Protection Agency. 

6 (4) REUSE.—The term ‘‘reuse’’, with respect to 

7 covered products that are finished textile goods, 

8 means resale, repair, rental, or upcycling (also 

9 known as remanufacturing) of those goods. 

10 (5) SORTING.—The term ‘‘sorting’’, with re11 spect to covered products, means manually or me12 chanically sorting those products for reuse or recy13 cling. 

14 (6) TEXTILE.—The term ‘‘textile’’ means ap15 parel, footwear, accessories, and household linens. 

16 SEC. 233. TEXTILE PRODUCTION VERIFICATION TEAMS. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner of U.S. Cus18 toms and Border Protection shall deploy to Americas part19 ner countries permanent textile production verification 

20 teams to ensure the integrity of the textile supply chains 

21 of those countries. 

22 (b) VISITS.— 

23 (1) COUNTRIES.—Textile production 

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1 ployed to an Americas partner country not less fre2 quently than once each year. 

3 (2) COMPANIES.—Textile production 

4 verification teams under subsection (a) may not visit 

5 the same company in consecutive visits to a country 

6 unless following up on a previous positive determina7 tion of malfeasance. 

8 SEC. 234. TAX BENEFITS FOR APPAREL AND HOME TEXTILE 

9 PRODUCTS. 

10 (a) EXCLUSION OF INCOME FROM SALES OF CER11 TAIN PRODUCTS.— 

12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part III of subchapter B of 

13 chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 

14 amended by inserting after section 139I the fol15 lowing new sections: 

16 ‘‘SEC. 139J. SALES OF FINISHED TEXTILE PRODUCTS IM17 PORTED FROM QUALIFYING WESTERN HEMI18 SPHERE COUNTRIES. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a corporation, 

20 gross income shall not include any income from the quali21 fying domestic sale of qualified finished textile products. 

22 ‘‘(b) QUALIFYING DOMESTIC SALE.—For purposes of 

23 this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualifying do2 mestic sale’ means any sale or exchange within the 

3 United States. 

4 ‘‘(2) RELATED PERSONS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Such term shall not 

6 include any sale to a related person. 

7 ‘‘(B) RELATED PERSON.—For purposes of 

8 subparagraph (A), a person shall be treated as 

9 related to another person if such persons are 

10 treated as a single employer under subsection 

11 (a) or (b) of section 52 or subsection (m) or (o) 

12 of section 414, except that determinations 

13 under subsections (a) and (b) of section 52 

14 shall be made without regard to section 

15 1563(b). 

16 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED FINISHED TEXTILE PRODUCTS.— 

17 For purposes of this section— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified fin19 ished textile products’ means any inventory property 

20 (as defined in section 865(i)(1)) which— 

21 ‘‘(A) is a finished textile product, and 

22 ‘‘(B) is— 

23 ‘‘(i) an originating good under section 

24 202(c) of the United States-Mexico-Can25 ada Agreement Implementation Act (19 


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1 U.S.C. 4531), section 203(b) of the Do2 minican Republic-Central America-United 

3 States Free Trade Agreement Implementa4 tion Act (19 U.S.C. 4033(b)), or a com5 parable provision of an Act to implement a 

6 free trade agreement between the United 

7 States and a qualifying Western Hemi8 sphere country, or 

9 ‘‘(ii) an eligible article under section 

10 213 of the Caribbean Basin Economic Re11 covery Act (19 U.S.C. 2703). 

12 ‘‘(2) FINISHED TEXTILE PRODUCT.—The term 

13 ‘finished textile product’ means a product put up for 

14 retail sale that is— 

15 ‘‘(A) classifiable under chapters 50 

16 through 63 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 

17 of the United States; or 

18 ‘‘(B) any textile-based product contained 

19 in chapter 39, 42, 64, 65, 66, 70, 94, or 96 of 

20 the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 

21 States. 

22 ‘‘(3) QUALIFYING WESTERN HEMISPHERE

23 COUNTRY.— The term ‘qualifying Western Hemi24 sphere country’ means any country— 


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1 ‘‘(A) which is located in the Western 

2 Hemisphere, and 

3 ‘‘(B) with which the United States has a 

4 free trade agreement in effect. 

5 ‘‘SEC. 139K. TEXTILE FIBER PRODUCTS EXPORTED TO 

6 QUALIFYING WESTERN HEMISPHERE COUN7 TRIES. 

8 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a corporation, 

9 gross income shall not include any income from the quali10 fying foreign sale of any qualified textile fiber product. 

11 ‘‘(b) QUALIFYING FOREIGN SALE.—For purposes of 

12 this section— 

13 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualifying for14 eign sale’ means any sale or exchange which the tax15 payer establishes to the satisfaction of the Secretary 

16 is for any use, disposition, or consumption within a 

17 qualifying Western Hemisphere country (as defined 

18 in section 139J). 

19 ‘‘(2) SPECIAL RULES.—For purposes of this 

20 subsection, rules similar to the rules of subpara21 graphs (B)(i) and (C)(i) of section 250(b)(5) shall 

22 apply. 

23 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED TEXTILE FIBER PRODUCT.—For 

24 purposes of this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualifying textile 

2 fiber product’ means any inventory property (as de3 fined in section 865(i)(1)) which— 

4 ‘‘(A) is a textile fiber product; and 

5 ‘‘(B) is— 

6 ‘‘(i) an originating good under section 

7 202(c) of the United States-Mexico-Can8 ada Agreement Implementation Act (19 

9 U.S.C. 4531), section 203(b) of the Do10 minican Republic-Central America-United 

11 States Free Trade Agreement Implementa12 tion Act (19 U.S.C. 4033(b)), or a com13 parable provision of an Act to implement a 

14 free trade agreement between the United 

15 States and a qualifying Western Hemi16 sphere country; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) an eligible article under section 

18 213 of the Caribbean Basin Economic Re19 covery Act (19 U.S.C. 2703). 

20 ‘‘(2) TEXTILE FIBER PRODUCT.—The term 

21 ‘textile fiber product’ means a product put up for 

22 sale that is— 

23 ‘‘(A) classifiable under any of chapters 50 

24 through 63 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule 

25 of the United States; or 


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1 ‘‘(B) a textile-based product contained in 

2 chapter 39, 42, 64, 65, 66, 70, 94, or 96 of the 

3 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 

4 States.’’. 

5 (2) NET OPERATING LOSSES.—Section 172(d) 

6 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

7 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

8 ‘‘(10) EXCLUSIONS FOR CERTAIN TEXTILE

9 PRODUCTS.—Gross income shall be determined with10 out regard to section 139J and 139K.’’. 

11 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec12 tions for part III of subchapter B of chapter 1 of 

13 such Code is amended by inserting after the item re14 lating to section 139I the following new items: 

‘‘Sec. 139J. Sales of finished textile products imported from qualifying Western 

Hemisphere countries. 

‘‘Sec. 139K. Textile fiber products exported to qualifying Western Hemisphere 

countries.’’. 

15 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

16 by this subsection shall apply to taxable years begin17 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

18 (b) DEDUCTION FOR DOMESTIC PRODUCTION OF

19 TEXTILE FIBER PRODUCTS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part VIII of subchapter B 

21 of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 

22 is amended by adding at the end the following new 

23 section: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 251. INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO DOMESTIC TEXTILE 

2 PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—In the case of a corporation, 

4 there shall be allowed as a deduction an amount equal to 

5 9 percent of the lesser of— 

6 ‘‘(1) the qualified textile production activities 

7 income of the taxpayer for the taxable year, or 

8 ‘‘(2) taxable income (determined without regard 

9 to this section) for the taxable year. 

10 ‘‘(b) DEDUCTION LIMITED TO WAGES PAID.— 

11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of the deduc12 tion allowable under subsection (a) for any taxable 

13 year shall not exceed 50 percent of the W–2 wages 

14 of the taxpayer for the taxable year. 

15 ‘‘(2) W–2 WAGES.—For purposes of this sec16 tion— 

17 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘W–2 

18 wages’ means, with respect to any person for 

19 any taxable year of such person, the sum of the 

20 amounts described in paragraphs (3) and (8) of 

21 section 6051(a) paid by such person with re22 spect to employment of employees by such per23 son during the calendar year ending during 

24 such taxable year. 

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1 TION.—Such term shall not include any amount 

2 which is not properly allocable to domestic tex3 tile production gross receipts for purposes of 

4 subsection (c)(1). 

5 ‘‘(C) RETURN REQUIREMENT.—Such term 

6 shall not include any amount which is not prop7 erly included in a return filed with the Social 

8 Security Administration on or before the 60th 

9 day after the due date (including extensions) 

10 for such return. 

11 ‘‘(3) ACQUISITIONS, DISPOSITIONS, AND SHORT

12 TAXABLE YEARS.—The Secretary shall provide for 

13 the application of this subsection in cases of a short 

14 taxable year or where the taxpayer acquires, or dis15 poses of, the major portion of a trade or business or 

16 the major portion of a separate unit of a trade or 

17 business during the taxable year. 

18 ‘‘(c) QUALIFIED TEXTILE PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES

19 INCOME.—For purposes of this section— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified textile 

21 production activities income’ for any taxable year 

22 means an amount equal to the excess (if any) of— 

23 ‘‘(A) the taxpayer’s domestic textile pro24 duction gross receipts for such taxable year, 

25 over 


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1 ‘‘(B) the sum of— 

2 ‘‘(i) the cost of goods sold that are al3 locable to such receipts, and 

4 ‘‘(ii) other expenses, losses, or deduc5 tions (other than the deduction allowed 

6 under this section), which are properly al7 locable to such receipts. 

8 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION METHOD.—The Secretary 

9 shall prescribe rules for the proper allocation of 

10 items described in paragraph (1) for purposes of de11 termining qualified textile production activities in12 come. Such rules shall provide for the proper alloca13 tion of items whether or not such items are directly 

14 allocable to domestic textile production gross re15 ceipts. 

16 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULES FOR DETERMINING

17 COSTS.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of deter19 mining costs under clause (i) of paragraph 

20 (1)(B), any item or service brought into the 

21 United States shall be treated as acquired by 

22 purchase, and its cost shall be treated as not 

23 less than its value immediately after it entered 

24 the United States. A similar rule shall apply in 

25 determining the adjusted basis of leased or 


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1 rented property where the lease or rental gives 

2 rise to domestic textile production gross re3 ceipts. 

4 ‘‘(B) EXPORTS FOR FURTHER MANUFAC5 TURE.—In the case of any property described 

6 in subparagraph (A) that had been exported by 

7 the taxpayer for further manufacture, the in8 crease in cost or adjusted basis under subpara9 graph (A) shall not exceed the difference be10 tween the value of the property when exported 

11 and the value of the property when brought 

12 back into the United States after the further 

13 manufacture. 

14 ‘‘(4) DOMESTIC TEXTILE PRODUCTION GROSS

15 RECEIPTS.— 

16 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘domestic 

17 textile production gross receipts’ means the 

18 gross receipts of the taxpayer which are derived 

19 from any lease, rental, license, sale, exchange, 

20 or other disposition of textile fiber product (as 

21 defined in section 139K) which was manufac22 tured, produced, or grown by the taxpayer in 

23 whole or in significant part within the United 

24 States. 


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1 ‘‘(B) EXCEPTION.—Such term shall not in2 clude any gross receipts— 

3 ‘‘(i) from the qualifying foreign sale 

4 (as defined in section 139K) of qualifying 

5 textile fiber products (as defined in such 

6 section), or 

7 ‘‘(ii) from activities described in sec8 tion 199B(b)(1)(A). 

9 ‘‘(C) SPECIAL RULE FOR CERTAIN GOV10 ERNMENT CONTRACTS.—Gross receipts derived 

11 from the manufacture or production of any 

12 property described in subparagraph (A) shall be 

13 treated as meeting the requirements of subpara14 graph (A) if— 

15 ‘‘(i) such property is manufactured or 

16 produced by the taxpayer pursuant to a 

17 contract with the Federal Government, and 

18 ‘‘(ii) the Federal Acquisition Regula19 tion requires that title or risk of loss with 

20 respect to such property be transferred to 

21 the Federal Government before the manu22 facture or production of such property is 

23 complete. 

24 ‘‘(D) PARTNERSHIPS OWNED BY EX25 PANDED AFFILIATED GROUPS.—For purposes 


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1 of this paragraph, if all of the interests in the 

2 capital and profits of a partnership are owned 

3 by members of a single expanded affiliated 

4 group at all times during the taxable year of 

5 such partnership, the partnership and all mem6 bers of such group shall be treated as a single 

7 taxpayer during such period. 

8 ‘‘(5) RELATED PERSONS.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘domestic 

10 textile production gross receipts’ shall not in11 clude any gross receipts of the taxpayer derived 

12 from property leased, licensed, or rented by the 

13 taxpayer for use by any related person. 

14 ‘‘(B) RELATED PERSON.—For purposes of 

15 subparagraph (A), a person shall be treated as 

16 related to another person if such persons are 

17 treated as a single employer under subsection 

18 (a) or (b) of section 52 or subsection (m) or (o) 

19 of section 414, except that determinations 

20 under subsections (a) and (b) of section 52 

21 shall be made without regard to section 

22 1563(b). 

23 ‘‘(d) DEFINITIONS AND SPECIAL RULES.— 

24 ‘‘(1) SPECIAL RULE FOR AFFILIATED

25 GROUPS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—All members of an ex2 panded affiliated group shall be treated as a 

3 single corporation for purposes of this section. 

4 ‘‘(B) EXPANDED AFFILIATED GROUP.— 

5 For purposes of this section, the term ‘ex6 panded affiliated group’ means an affiliated 

7 group as defined in section 1504(a), deter8 mined— 

9 ‘‘(i) by substituting ‘more than 50 

10 percent’ for ‘at least 80 percent’ each place 

11 it appears, and 

12 ‘‘(ii) without regard to paragraphs (2) 

13 and (4) of section 1504(b). 

14 ‘‘(C) ALLOCATION OF DEDUCTION.—Ex15 cept as provided in regulations, the deduction 

16 under subsection (a) shall be allocated among 

17 the members of the expanded affiliated group in 

18 proportion to each member’s respective amount 

19 (if any) of qualified textile production activities 

20 income. 

21 ‘‘(2) TRADE OR BUSINESS REQUIREMENT.— 

22 This section shall be applied by only taking into ac23 count items which are attributable to the actual con24 duct of a trade or business. 


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1 ‘‘(3) UNRELATED BUSINESS TAXABLE IN2 COME.—For purposes of determining the tax im3 posed by section 511, subsection (a)(1)(B) shall be 

4 applied by substituting ‘unrelated business taxable 

5 income’ for ‘taxable income’. 

6 ‘‘(4) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary shall pre7 scribe such regulations as are necessary to carry out 

8 the purposes of this section, including regulations 

9 which prevent more than 1 taxpayer from being al10 lowed a deduction under this section with respect to 

11 any activity described in subsection (c)(4)(A).’’. 

12 (2) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

13 (A)(i) Section 74(d)(2)(B) of the Internal 

14 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 

15 ‘‘251,’’ after ‘‘221,’’. 

16 (ii) Section 246(b)(1) of such Code is 

17 amended by inserting ‘‘251,’’ after 

18 ‘‘243(a)(1),’’. 

19 (iii) Section 469(i)(3)(E)(iii) of such Code 

20 is amended by inserting ‘‘251,’’ after ‘‘250,’’. 

21 (B) Section 170(b)(2)(D) of such Code is 

22 amended by striking the period at the end of 

23 clause (v) and inserting ‘‘, and’’ and by adding 

24 at the end the following new clause: 

25 ‘‘(vi) section 251.’’. 


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1 (C) Section 172(d) of such Code, as 

2 amended by this Act, is amended by adding at 

3 the end the following new paragraph: 

4 ‘‘(11) The deduction under section 251 shall 

5 not be allowed.’’. 

6 (3) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec7 tions for part VIII of subchapter B of chapter 1 of 

8 such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol9 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 251. Income attributable to domestic textile production activities.’’. 

10 (4) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

11 by this subsection shall apply to taxable years begin12 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

13 (c) DEDUCTION FOR REUSED AND RECYCLED TEX14 TILES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Part VI of subchapter B of 

16 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 

17 adding at the end the following new section: 

18 ‘‘SEC. 199B. TEXTILE REUSE AND RECYCLING ACTIVITY IN19 COME. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—There shall be allowed a deduc21 tion equal to 15 percent of the qualified textile reuse and 

22 recycling activity income of the taxpayer for the taxable 

23 year. 

24 ‘‘(b) QUALIFIED TEXTILE REUSE AND RECYCLING

25 ACTIVITY INCOME.—For purposes of this section— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘qualified textile 

2 reuse and recycling activity income’ means the ex3 cess (if any) of— 

4 ‘‘(A) the gross income of the taxpayer de5 rived in the course of a trade or business 

6 from— 

7 ‘‘(i) the resale, repair, rental, or re8 manufacturing of finished textile products, 

9 ‘‘(ii) the transformation of otherwise 

10 unsalable textile fiber products into new 

11 finished or unfinished goods, 

12 ‘‘(iii) the collection of textile fiber 

13 products, 

14 ‘‘(iv) the sorting of finished textile 

15 products and textile fiber products for ac16 tivities described in clause (i) or (ii), and 

17 ‘‘(v) the preparation of textile fiber 

18 products for activities described in clause 

19 (ii), over 

20 ‘‘(B) the deductions (including taxes) prop21 erly allocable to such gross income. 

22 ‘‘(2) FINISHED TEXTILE PRODUCTS.—The term 

23 ‘finished textile products’ has the meaning given 

24 such term under section 139J(c). 


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1 ‘‘(3) TEXTILE FIBER PRODUCTS.—The term 

2 ‘textile fiber products’ has the meaning given such 

3 term under section 139K(c). 

4 ‘‘(c) SPECIAL RULES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) APPLICATION TO PARTNERSHIPS AND S

6 CORPORATIONS.—In the case of a partnership or S 

7 corporation— 

8 ‘‘(A) this section shall be applied at the 

9 partner or shareholder level, and 

10 ‘‘(B) each partner or shareholder shall 

11 take into account such person’s allocable share 

12 of each qualified item of income, gain, deduc13 tion, and loss. 

14 ‘‘(2) COORDINATION WITH MINIMUM TAX.—For 

15 purposes of determining alternative minimum tax16 able income under section 55, qualified textile reuse 

17 and recycling activity income shall be determined 

18 without regard to any adjustments under sections 56 

19 through 59.’’. 

20 (2) COORDINATION WITH DEDUCTION FOR

21 QUALIFIED BUSINESS INCOME.—Section 

22 199A(c)(3)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code of 

23 1986 is amended by redesignating clause (vii) as 

24 clause (viii) and by inserting after clause (vi) the fol25 lowing new clause: 


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1 ‘‘(vii) Any item of income, gain, de2 duction, or loss taken into account under 

3 section 199B(b)(1).’’. 

4 (3) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

5 (A)(i) Section 74(d)(2)(B) of the Internal 

6 Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by inserting 

7 ‘‘199B,’’ after ‘‘137,’’. 

8 (ii) Section 86(b)(2)(A) of such Code is 

9 amended by inserting ‘‘199B,’’ after ‘‘137,’’. 

10 (iii) Section 135(c)(4)(A) of such Code is 

11 amended by inserting ‘‘199B,’’ after ‘‘137,’’. 

12 (iv) Section 137(b)(3)(A) of such Code is 

13 amended by inserting ‘‘199B,’’ before ‘‘221,’’. 

14 (v) Section 219(g)(3)(A)(ii) of such Code 

15 is amended by inserting ‘‘199B,’’ after ‘‘137,’’. 

16 (vi) Section 221(b)(2)(C)(i) of such Code 

17 is amended by inserting ‘‘199B,’’ before ‘‘911,’’. 

18 (vii) Section 246(b)(1) of such Code is 

19 amended by inserting ‘‘199B,’’ after ‘‘199A,’’. 

20 (viii) Section 469(i)(3)(E)(iii) of such Code 

21 is amended by inserting ‘‘199B,’’ before ‘‘219,’’. 

22 (B) Section 170(b)(2)(D) of such Code, as 

23 amended by subsection (b), is amended by 

24 striking the period at the end of clause (vi) and 


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1 inserting ‘‘, and’’ and by adding at the end the 

2 following new clause: 

3 ‘‘(vii) section 199B.’’. 

4 (C) Section 172(d) of such Code, as 

5 amended by subsection (b), is amended by add6 ing at the end the following new paragraph: 

7 ‘‘(12) The deduction under section 199B shall 

8 not be allowed.’’. 

9 (4) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec10 tions for part VI of subchapter B of chapter 1 of 

11 such Code is amended by adding at the end the fol12 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 199B. Textile reuse and recycling activity income.’’. 

13 (5) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made 

14 by this subsection shall apply to taxable years begin15 ning after the date of the enactment of this Act. 

16 CHAPTER 4—TRADE ENFORCEMENT 

17 SEC. 241. ESTABLISHMENT OF SPECIAL ENFORCEMENT 

18 UNIT OF U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PRO19 TECTION TO MONITOR THE IMPLEMENTA20 TION OF UYGHUR FORCED LABOR PREVEN21 TION ACT. 

22 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

23 Office of International Affairs of U.S. Customs and Bor24 der Protection a special enforcement unit tasked with 

25 monitoring the implementation by the United States of the 


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1 Act entitled ‘‘An Act to ensure that goods made with 

2 forced labor in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of the 

3 People’s Republic of China do not enter the United States 

4 market, and for other purposes’’, approved December 23, 

5 2021 (Public Law 117–78; 135 Stat. 1525) (commonly 

6 referred to as the ‘‘Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention 

7 Act’’). 

8 (b) COORDINATION.—The special enforcement unit 

9 established under subsection (a) shall coordinate with the 

10 trade remedy law enforcement unit of U.S. Customs and 

11 Border Protection. 

12 (c) STAFF.— 

13 (1) AGENTS.—The special enforcement unit es14 tablished under subsection (a) may deploy agents as 

15 necessary for the effective functioning of the unit. 

16 (2) POSITIONS AT EMBASSIES.—The special en17 forcement unit established under subsection (a) may 

18 deploy permanent NSDD–38 positions stationed at 

19 each embassy of the United States in an Americas 

20 partner country for the coordination of the efforts of 

21 the unit. 


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1 SEC. 242. AUTHORIZATION OF PAYMENTS TO WHISTLE2 BLOWERS RELATING TO MONEY LAUN3 DERING OR ILLICIT FINANCIAL TRANS4 ACTIONS. 

5 The Executive Associate Director of Homeland Secu6 rity Investigations may pay to whistleblowers who disclose 

7 to the Secretary of Homeland Security any violations of 

8 laws prohibiting money laundering or illicit financial 

9 transactions an amount not to exceed 30 percent of the 

10 value of any assets seized in connection with such viola11 tions. 

12 SEC. 243. ESTABLISHMENT OF BORDERS AND PORTS PRO13 TECTION PROGRAM. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commissioner, in consulta15 tion with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Home16 land Security, and the heads of such other Federal agen17 cies as the President considers appropriate, shall establish 

18 a program to be known as the Borders and Ports Protec19 tion Program (referred to in this section as the ‘‘Pro20 gram’’). 

21 (b) BORDERS AND PORTS PROTECTION UNIT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the Program, the 

23 Commissioner shall assist Americas partner coun24 tries that are seeking to join the Program and are 

25 selected by the Commissioner in the establishment of 

26 a borders and ports protection unit. 


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1 (2) CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS.—In se2 lecting Americas partner countries under paragraph 

3 (1), the Commissioner shall consult with Congress. 

4 (3) CONSENT REQUIREMENT.—The Commis5 sioner shall not provide the support of a border and 

6 ports protection unit to an Americas partner country 

7 without first receiving express consent from the gov8 ernment of that Americas partner country. 

9 (c) ELEMENTS OF PROGRAM.—In carrying out the 

10 Program, the Commissioner may support the efforts of 

11 customs administrations and border security agencies of 

12 Americas partner countries selected under subsection (b) 

13 to create a borders and ports protection unit composed 

14 of a sufficient number of officers, including officers of the 

15 United States and officers of the Americas partner coun16 try, as identified by the Commissioner, who will— 

17 (1) report to the local customs administrations 

18 and border security agencies in that country; 

19 (2) be responsible for surge support and phys20 ical protection of borders, ports, strategic depots, 

21 hubs, and key commodities, such as basic foodstuffs, 

22 gasoline, diesel, and other strategic goods, in that 

23 country; 


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1 (3) under the authority of officials in that coun2 try, carry out non-investigative customs functions, 

3 such as— 

4 (A) ensuring the effective continuity of 

5 port operations; 

6 (B) facilitating legitimate trade and com7 merce; and 

8 (C) detecting and interdicting customs vio9 lations, such as illicit smuggling of contraband; 

10 (4) when cross-border violations of law are iden11 tified, notify and coordinate directly with customs 

12 and other law enforcement and security agencies in 

13 that country that are responsible for conducting in14 vestigations of illicit cross-border smuggling of15 fenses; 

16 (5) refer cross-border violations of law to the 

17 Transnational Criminal Investigative Units of 

18 Homeland Security Investigations; and 

19 (6) carry out any other duties identified by the 

20 Commissioner. 

21 (d) TRANSNATIONAL CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIVE

22 UNITS.—The Secretary of Homeland Security, acting 

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1 try upon receiving express consent from the government 

2 of that Americas partner country. 

3 (e) TRAINING AND EQUIPMENT.—To the extent au4 thorized under existing provisions of law, the Commis5 sioner may provide to an Americas partner country se6 lected under subsection (b) training, oversight, equipment, 

7 and remuneration from U.S. Customs and Border Protec8 tion for the purposes specified in subsection (c) to provide 

9 lethal and non-lethal assistance, such as training and 

10 equipment, including personal protective equipment, ar11 mored vehicles, and weapons, to entities that are— 

12 (1) identified by the local customs offices in 

13 that country; 

14 (2) coordinated and deconflicted through the 

15 law enforcement working group of the United States 

16 Embassy in that country; and 

17 (3) approved by the Commissioner. 

18 (f) MANAGEMENT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the Program, the 

20 Commissioner, in coordination with the Secretary of 

21 State and the Secretary of Homeland Security, 

22 shall— 

23 (A) deploy officers of U.S. Customs and 

24 Border Protection to each Americas partner 


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1 country selected under subsection (b), who 

2 shall— 

3 (i) report to the chief of mission; 

4 (ii) monitor the activities, on behalf of 

5 the Department of Homeland Security, of 

6 the borders and ports protection unit of 

7 that country; 

8 (iii) coordinate activities with— 

9 (I) the law enforcement working 

10 group of the United States Embassy 

11 in that country; 

12 (II) the attache of Homeland Se13 curity Investigations covering that 

14 country; and 

15 (III) the Transnational Criminal 

16 Investigative Unit for that country; 

17 (iv) coordinate and deconflict all 

18 training and equipment requests with the 

19 law enforcement working group of the 

20 United States Embassy in that country 

21 and the attache of Homeland Security In22 vestigations covering that country; and 

23 (v) ensure that all cross-border viola24 tions of law are referred for investigation 


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1 to the Transnational Criminal Investigative 

2 Unit for that country; and 

3 (B) hire a defense contractor that has 

4 completed all registrations and clearances re5 quired by the United States Government to de6 ploy a team of armed experts to assist in the 

7 recruitment, vetting, and training of agents of 

8 the borders and ports protection unit of that 

9 country. 

10 (2) HIRING OF AGENTS.—When possible, the 

11 Secretary shall hire agents for the borders and ports 

12 protection unit of an Americas partner country se13 lected under subsection (b) from among agents of 

14 the security services of that country. 

15 (g) SECURITY ISSUES.—The Secretary of State shall 

16 enhance the security of borders and ports protection units 

17 established under this section by following the model of 

18 the Special Program for Embassy Augmentation Response 

19 (SPEAR) used by the Diplomatic Security Service to pro20 tect embassies of the United States and other facilities in 

21 high-threat environments. 

22 (h) REMUNERATION.—Under the Program, the Sec23 retary of State, working through the contractor hired pur24 suant to subsection (f)(1)(B), shall provide appropriate reVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Mar 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00104 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7571.IH H7571

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1 muneration for agents of borders and ports protection 

2 units, including— 

3 (1) wages based on appropriate pay scales of 

4 the United Nations; and 

5 (2) a life insurance policy. 

6 (i) DESIGNATION OF UNITS IN NON-AMERICAS

7 PARTNER COUNTRIES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 

9 provision of law, except as provided in paragraph 

10 (2), the President may designate a borders and 

11 ports protection unit under the Program in a coun12 try that is not an Americas partner country selected 

13 under subsection (b) if the President— 

14 (A) determines that it is in the national se15 curity interest of the United States to do so; 

16 and 

17 (B) receives the express consent of the gov18 ernment of that country. 

19 (2) EXCEPTION.—The President may not des20 ignate a borders and ports protection unit under the 

21 Program in a country that is a member of the 

22 Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America. 

23 (j) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

24 of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the 

25 Secretary of State shall submit to the Committee on FiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Mar 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00105 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7571.IH H7571

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1 nance and the Committee on Homeland Security and Gov2 ernmental Affairs of the Senate and the Committee on 

3 Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a report 

4 on the Program. 

5 (k) COMMISSIONER DEFINED.—In this section, the 

6 term ‘‘Commissioner’’ means the Commissioner of U.S. 

7 Customs and Border Protection. 

8 SEC. 244. ESTABLISHMENT OF MUTUAL RECOGNITION 

9 AGREEMENTS AND TRADE TRANSPARENCY 

10 UNITS. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—If not already in place with re12 spect to an Americas partner country, not later than one 

13 year after entering into a partnership agreement pursuant 

14 to section 201 with that country, the Commissioner shall 

15 establish a mutual recognition agreement and a trade 

16 transparency unit with the customs administration of that 

17 country as part of the ongoing Customs and Trade Part18 nership Against Terrorism program of U.S. Customs and 

19 Border Protection. 

20 (b) PROCESS.—Immediately upon the date of the en21 actment of this Act, the Commissioner shall begin an expe22 dited process of establishing mutual recognition agree23 ments and trade transparency units between the United 

24 States and customs offices of Americas partner countries. 


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1 (c) INTEROPERABILITY OF AGREEMENTS.—The 

2 Commissioner, in consultation with the Secretary of Com3 merce, shall ensure that data sharing conducted under a 

4 mutual recognition agreement established under this sec5 tion is interoperable with the e-governance system estab6 lished under title I. 

7 (d) HARMONIZATION OF DATA COLLECTED UNDER

8 AGREEMENTS.—In coordination with the Americas Part9 nership Business Advisory Board established under sec10 tion 202, trade and customs bodies shall harmonize col11 lected data under mutual recognition agreements entered 

12 into under this section, including data related to the fol13 lowing: 

14 (1) Weight. 

15 (2) Quantity. 

16 (3) Value. 

17 (4) Elements necessary for imports and exports. 

18 (5) Common identifiers matching imports and 

19 exports. 

20 (e) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

21 (1) COMMISSIONER.—The term ‘‘Commis22 sioner’’ means the Commissioner of U.S. Customs 

23 and Border Protection. 

24 (2) MUTUAL RECOGNITION AGREEMENT.—The 

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1 ment of arrangement between U.S. Customs and 

2 Border Protection and a customs administration of 

3 a foreign country that provides the platform for the 

4 exchange of membership information and recognizes 

5 the compatibility of the respective supply chain secu6 rity programs of that country and the United States. 

7 CHAPTER 5—MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AND 

8 SUPPLIES GRANT PROGRAM 

9 SEC. 245. MEDICAL EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES GRANT 

10 PROGRAM. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall 

12 establish a program under which the Secretary shall award 

13 grants to manufacturers of medical equipment, medical 

14 devices, and medical supplies that are either 

15 headquartered in the United States or in an Americas 

16 partner country, or that are determined by the Secretary 

17 to have a significant presence in an Americas partner 

18 country, to assist the continued expansion of, and promote 

19 job growth within, this key economic sector for the Hemi20 sphere. 

21 (b) USE OF GRANT AMOUNTS.—A medical equip22 ment, medical device, or medical supply manufacturer in 

23 receipt of a grant awarded under this section shall use 

24 the amounts of that grant for new facilities or equipment, 

25 to retool old equipment, or to create or expand operations 


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1 for medical equipment, medical device, or medical supply 

2 production in the United States or in an Americas partner 

3 country. 

4 (c) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this section, 

5 the Secretary— 

6 (1) shall permit advances of grant amounts to 

7 manufacturers— 

8 (A) prior to making qualifying expendi9 tures; or 

10 (B) as qualifying expenditures are made; 

11 and 

12 (2) shall require a manufacturer to comply with 

13 safety, labor, health, and environmental standards 

14 specified by the Secretary, in consultation with the 

15 Secretary of Labor, the Secretary of Health and 

16 Human Services, the Administrator of the Environ17 mental Protection Agency, and the Director of the 

18 National Institute of Standards and Technology; and 

19 (3) may scale the amount of a grant depending 

20 on incremental employment achieved by the manu21 facturer. 

22 (d) DEFINITION OF MEDICAL EQUIPMENT, MEDICAL

23 DEVICES, AND MEDICAL SUPPLIES.—In this section, the 

24 terms ‘‘medical equipment, medical devices, and medical 

25 supplies’’ means— 


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1 (1) for goods manufactured in Americas part2 ner countries, goods within one of the following sta3 tistical reporting numbers utilized in the Har4 monized Tariff Schedule of the United States: 

5 (A) 9018.90.8000, classified as ‘‘other in6 struments and appliances used in medical, sur7 gical, dental, or veterinary sciences’’; 

8 (B) 9018.39.0040, classified as ‘‘bougies, 

9 drains, and sondes, and parts and accessories’’; 

10 (C) 9018.19.9560, classified as ‘‘parts and 

11 accessories for electro-diagnostic apparatus, for 

12 use in medical, surgical, dental or veterinary 

13 science’’; 

14 (D) 9018.90.6000, classified as ‘‘electro15 surgical instruments and appliances and parts 

16 and accessories’’; 

17 (E) 9018.90.7580, classified as ‘‘electro18 medical instruments and appliances and parts 

19 and accessories’’; 

20 (F) 9021.39.0000, classified as ‘‘other ar21 tificial parts of the body and parts and acces22 sories’’; 

23 (G) 9018.39.0050, classified as ‘‘cannulae 

24 and the like and parts and accessories)’’; or 


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1 (H) any other statistical reporting number 

2 contained within the Harmonized Tariff Sched3 ule (19 U.S.C. 1202) that refers to a type of 

4 medical equipment, medical device, or medical 

5 supply that is produced within an Americas 

6 partner country and helps secure America’s 

7 medical supply chain, as determined by the Sec8 retary; and 

9 (2) for goods manufactured in the United 

10 States, goods within each of the ‘‘Schedule B’’ ex11 port classifications codes maintained by the United 

12 States Census Bureau that are the equivalent of the 

13 products described in paragraph (1), as determined 

14 by the Secretary. 

15 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

16 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of Com17 merce $105,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2025 

18 through 2029 to carry out the program under this section. 

19 Amounts authorized to be appropriated under this sub20 section are authorized to be obligated and expended in 

21 both the United States and in Americas partner countries. 

22 Subtitle C—Investment 

23 SEC. 251. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

24 It is the sense of Congress that— 


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1 (1) Americas partner countries need significant 

2 investment in infrastructure and trade ecosystems to 

3 compete in the 21st century; 

4 (2) slave-based subsidized trade in the People’s 

5 Republic of China takes advantage of such need, 

6 abusing the principles of free trade to advance the 

7 national security interests of the People’s Republic 

8 of China and predate upon other countries; 

9 (3) environmental degradation by the People’s 

10 Republic of China, especially through dirty, coal-pro11 duced electricity, gives products manufactured in the 

12 People’s Republic of China an unfair advantage over 

13 products manufactured in countries with inter14 nationally accepted environmental standards; 

15 (4) theft of intellectual property rights, World 

16 Trade Organization violations, and other abuses by 

17 the People’s Republic of China make competition 

18 with the Government of the People’s Republic of 

19 China and state-owned entities unbalanced; 

20 (5) a trade-based response to the trade behavior 

21 of the People’s Republic of China, which uses cor22 ruption and perverse incentives, must include invest23 ment incentives, retaliatory tariffs, fixing the de 

24 minimis trade loophole found in section 321 of the 

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1 tively a free trade agreement with the Chinese Com2 munist Party, and other offsets to catalyze move3 ment of supply chains and productivity back to the 

4 Western Hemisphere; and 

5 (6) promoting development and challenging the 

6 People’s Republic of China will require flexibility, re7 sponsiveness, creativity, and risk-taking, which are 

8 the ethos of the investment corporation. 

9 SEC. 252. BUILD AMERICAS UNIT. 

10 Title I of the BUILD Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 9611 

11 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following 

12 new section: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 1416. BUILD AMERICAS UNIT. 

14 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the 

15 Corporation a BUILD Americas Unit (in this division re16 ferred to as the ‘Unit’). 

17 ‘‘(b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of the Unit are as fol18 lows: 

19 ‘‘(1) To advance the interests of the United 

20 States Government. 

21 ‘‘(2) To near-shore industries from the People’s 

22 Republic of China. 

23 ‘‘(3) To support the development of large scale 

24 infrastructure ecosystems for the purposes of rapid 

25 industrialization of the Western Hemisphere. 


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1 ‘‘(4) To support the relocation of strategic sup2 ply chains (as that term is defined in section 254 of 

3 the Americas Act). 

4 ‘‘(c) COUNTRIES OF OPERATION.—The Unit shall op5 erate in all Americas partner countries (as that term is 

6 defined in section 2 of the Americas Act), without regard 

7 to the income limitations described in section 1412(c)(2). 

8 ‘‘(d) FUNDING.—Such sums as may be necessary to 

9 carry out this section shall be made available from the Re10 shoring and Near-shoring Account established under sec11 tion 301 and the amounts authorized under section 

12 212(a)(2) of the Americas Act. 

13 ‘‘(e) DEPUTY CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER.— 

14 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—There shall be in the 

15 Unit, a Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the 

16 Americas (in this section referred to as the ‘Deputy 

17 Chief’) , who shall be appointed by the President, by 

18 and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and 

19 who shall report to the Deputy Under Secretary of 

20 Commerce for the Americas Partnership. 

21 ‘‘(2) COMPENSATION.—The Deputy Chief shall 

22 be compensated at a rate equivalent to level I of the 

23 Executive Schedule under section 5312 of title 5, 

24 United States Code. 

25 ‘‘(f) PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) STAFFING.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Without regard to any 

3 provision of title 5, United States Code, gov4 erning the appointment of employees in the civil 

5 service, the Deputy Chief may appoint— 

6 ‘‘(i) such individuals as necessary to 

7 provide not fewer than 2 staff members 

8 from the Unit to each Americas partner 

9 country; 

10 ‘‘(ii) such individuals as necessary to 

11 serve as program managers under this sec12 tion; and 

13 ‘‘(iii) such other individuals as may be 

14 necessary to enable the Unit to perform its 

15 duties. 

16 ‘‘(B) PROGRAM MANAGER QUALIFICA17 TIONS.—Individuals appointed as program 

18 managers under subparagraph (A)(ii) shall 

19 have— 

20 ‘‘(i) demonstrated experience and ex21 pertise in securities in the private sector; 

22 ‘‘(ii) an appropriate securities license, 

23 as determined by the Deputy Chief; and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) held the position of investment 

2 banker as commonly understood for hiring 

3 at private entities. 

4 ‘‘(2) COMPENSATION.—Notwithstanding any 

5 provision of title 5, United States Code, governing 

6 the rates of pay or classification of employees in the 

7 executive branch, the Deputy Chief may prescribe 

8 the rates of basic pay for program managers ap9 pointed under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) at a rate not in 

10 excess of a rate equal to 150 percent of the max11 imum rate of basic pay authorized for positions at 

12 level I of the Executive Schedule under section 5312 

13 of title 5, United States Code. 

14 ‘‘(3) EVALUATIONS OF PROGRAM MANAGERS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Deputy Adminis16 trator for Programs shall establish criteria to 

17 evaluate the effectiveness of program managers, 

18 which shall include measuring the economic 

19 success of portfolio instruments approved by 

20 program managers. 

21 ‘‘(B) DISMISSAL.—Upon the determination 

22 that a program manager fails to meet the cri23 teria described in subparagraph (A), the Dep24 uty Administrator for Programs may rec25 ommend the dismissal of such program manVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Mar 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00116 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7571.IH H7571

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1 ager, who may be dismissed at the discretion of 

2 the Chief Administrator. 

3 ‘‘(4) LIMITATION ON TERM OF APPOINT4 MENT.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 

6 subparagraph (B), the service of a program 

7 manager appointed under paragraph (1)(A)(ii) 

8 may not exceed 5 years. 

9 ‘‘(B) EXTENSION.—The Deputy Chief 

10 may, in the case of a particular program man11 ager appointed under paragraph (1)(A)(ii), ex12 tend the period to which service is limited under 

13 subparagraph (A) by up to 2 years if the Dep14 uty Chief determines that such action is nec15 essary to promote the efficiency of the Unit, as 

16 applicable. 

17 ‘‘(g) AUTHORITIES RELATING TO PROVISION OF

18 SUPPORT.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The authorities in this sub20 section shall only be exercised to— 

21 ‘‘(A) carry out of the policy of the United 

22 States in section 251 of the Americas Act and 

23 the purposes of the Unit in subsection (b); 

24 ‘‘(B) mitigate risks to United States tax25 payers by sharing risks with the private sector 


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1 and qualifying sovereign entities through co-fi2 nancing and structuring of tools; and 

3 ‘‘(C) ensure that support provided under 

4 this section is additional to private sector re5 sources by mobilizing private capital that would 

6 otherwise not be deployed without such support. 

7 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In exercising the au8 thorities in this subsection, the Unit— 

9 ‘‘(A) shall consider— 

10 ‘‘(i) whether an activity will maximize 

11 the profits of the entity receiving support 

12 under this subsection; 

13 ‘‘(ii) the potential return on invest14 ment of an activity; 

15 ‘‘(iii) the sustainability of the eco16 nomic model of the entity receiving support 

17 under this subsection; 

18 ‘‘(iv) any secondary economic impact 

19 of the activity and whether such impact 

20 will spur additional clusters of investment; 

21 ‘‘(v) whether taxation can be used to 

22 generate revenue for public entities receiv23 ing support under this subsection; and 


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1 ‘‘(vi) the feasibility of economic suc2 cess for the entity receiving support under 

3 this subsection; and 

4 ‘‘(B) may not consider external factors 

5 that will not impact the economic success of an 

6 activity. 

7 ‘‘(3) GRANTS.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Unit may award 

9 grants to United States businesses and entities 

10 and governments in Americas partner countries 

11 under such terms and conditions as the Unit 

12 shall prescribe to carry out the purposes of the 

13 Americas Act. 

14 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION REQUIREMENT.—A 

15 grant under this paragraph may be made only 

16 to a United States business, a for profit or not17 for profit entity registered in an Americas part18 ner country, or a government of such a country 

19 (including a local government) that submits to 

20 the Unit an application at such time, in such 

21 manner, and containing or accompanied by 

22 such information as the Unit may reasonably 

23 require. 

24 ‘‘(C) PRIORITY.—In approving applications 

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1 ority to applications that demonstrate the devel2 opment of a private sector activity that will ad3 vance the economic objectives of the Unit de4 scribed in subsection (b). 

5 ‘‘(D) APPROVAL LIMITS.—Under this para6 graph— 

7 ‘‘(i) program managers may approve 

8 grants of not more than $4,999,999; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the Deputy Chief may approve 

10 grants of not less than $5,000,000 and not 

11 more than $49,999,999; and 

12 ‘‘(iii) the Deputy Assistant Secretary 

13 for the Americas Partnership may approve 

14 grants of not less than $50,000,000. 

15 ‘‘(E) REPORTING.— 

16 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Unit shall— 

17 ‘‘(I) use the e-governance frame18 work established under title I for 

19 management of and reporting on 

20 grants; and 

21 ‘‘(II) protect all restricted per22 sonal information (as that term is de23 fined in section 119 of title 18, 

24 United States Code) collected under 

25 clause (ii). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) COLLECTION OF INFORMA2 TION.—The Corporation shall carry out 

3 clause (i) by collecting information with re4 spect to each such grant, including— 

5 ‘‘(I) the beneficiary of the grant; 

6 ‘‘(II) the amount; 

7 ‘‘(III) the location of activities 

8 funded by the grant; 

9 ‘‘(IV) a description of the activi10 ties funded by the grant; 

11 ‘‘(V) a justification for approving 

12 the grant; 

13 ‘‘(VI) the amount of funds pro14 vided for an activity by the beneficiary 

15 of the grant; 

16 ‘‘(VII) a description of any other 

17 financial support from the Unit; 

18 ‘‘(VIII) a description of how 

19 awarding the grant is anticipated to 

20 combat the influence of the People’s 

21 Republic of China in the Western 

22 Hemisphere; and 

23 ‘‘(IX) a description of how the 

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1 cial support provided by persons other 

2 than the Unit. 

3 ‘‘(4) LOANS AND GUARANTIES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Unit may make 

5 loans or guaranties in accordance with the 

6 guidelines in subparagraph (B) and upon such 

7 other terms and conditions as the Deputy As8 sistant Secretary for the Americas Partnership 

9 may determine. 

10 ‘‘(B) GUIDELINES FOR THE ISSUANCE OF

11 LOANS.— 

12 ‘‘(i) APPROVAL LIMITS.—Under this 

13 paragraph— 

14 ‘‘(I) program managers may ap15 prove loans and guaranties of not 

16 more than $4,999,999; 

17 ‘‘(II) the Deputy Chief may ap18 prove loans and guaranties of not less 

19 than $5,000,000 and not more than 

20 $49,999,999; and 

21 ‘‘(III) the Deputy Assistant Sec22 retary for the Americas Partnership 

23 may approve loans and guaranties of 

24 not less than $50,000,000. 

25 ‘‘(ii) LOAN AVAILABILITY.— 


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1 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—Any loan 

2 made or guaranteed under this para3 graph may be issued to— 

4 ‘‘(aa) a United States busi5 ness; 

6 ‘‘(bb) a for-profit entity in 

7 an Americas partner country; or 

8 ‘‘(cc) a government of an 

9 Americas partner country (in10 cluding a local government). 

11 ‘‘(II) EXCEPTION.—Notwith12 standing subclause (I), a loan may be 

13 made or guaranteed by the Unit to a 

14 country that is not an Americas part15 ner country if the purpose of the loan 

16 is to support near-shoring of strategic 

17 supply chains under section 254 of 

18 the Americas Act. 

19 ‘‘(III) LINES OF CREDIT.—The 

20 Unit may provide a line of credit of 

21 not more than $50,000,000 to a 

22 United States business that meets 

23 such requirements as the Deputy As24 sistant Secretary for the Americas 

25 Partnership may determine. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) INTEREST RATES.— 

2 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—A loan made 

3 or guaranteed under this paragraph 

4 may bear an interest rate lower than 

5 the rate for an equivalent loan avail6 able in the local market. 

7 ‘‘(II) VARIABLE INTEREST

8 RATES.—For each loan made or guar9 anteed under this paragraph, the Sec10 retary of the Treasury shall make 

11 available to the Unit, at a variable in12 terest rate that is not less than zero 

13 percent, funds from the amounts au14 thorized under section 212(a)(2) of 

15 the Americas Act. 

16 ‘‘(III) DEPOSITS TO TREAS17 URY.—For each direct loan made by 

18 the Unit to a covered entity, the Unit 

19 shall remit— 

20 ‘‘(aa) any repayment on the 

21 principal amount, including the 

22 final repayment and liquidation 

23 of the loan, and any amount of 

24 interest required by the Secretary 

25 of the Treasury in accordance 


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1 with subclause (II) to the Sec2 retary of the Treasury, who shall 

3 use such amounts to replenish 

4 the amounts authorized under 

5 section 212(a)(2) of the Americas 

6 Act; and 

7 ‘‘(bb) any profit made from 

8 interest above the amount re9 quired by rate of interest estab10 lished by the Secretary of the 

11 Treasury under subclause (II) to 

12 the Secretary of the Treasury, 

13 who shall deposit such amounts 

14 into the Re-shoring and Near15 shoring Account established 

16 under section 301 of the Amer17 icas Act. 

18 ‘‘(iv) DENOMINATION.—Loans and 

19 guaranties made under this paragraph may 

20 be denominated and repayable in United 

21 States dollars or foreign currencies. For22 eign currency denominated loans and guar23 anties should only be provided if the Dep24 uty Assistant Secretary for the Americas 

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1 stantive policy rationale for such loans and 

2 guaranties. 

3 ‘‘(v) GUARANTIES BY TREASURY.— 

4 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—For any loan 

5 under this paragraph, the Unit shall 

6 hold in an escrow account funds in an 

7 amount that is equal to 5 percent of 

8 the principal amount of the loan for 

9 the life of the loan or until the loan 

10 has been repaid. 

11 ‘‘(II) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—The 

12 funds described in subclause (I) shall 

13 be taken from the Re-shoring and 

14 Near-shoring Account established 

15 under section 301 of the Americas 

16 Act. 

17 ‘‘(vi) APPLICABILITY OF FEDERAL

18 CREDIT REFORM ACT OF 1990.—Loans and 

19 guaranties issued under paragraph (1) 

20 shall be subject to the requirements of the 

21 Federal Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 

22 U.S.C. 661 et seq.). 

23 ‘‘(5) EQUITY INVESTMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the 

25 sense of Congress that— 


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1 ‘‘(i) equity is essential, particularly 

2 with respect to transformational technology 

3 in the energy and technology sectors; and 

4 ‘‘(ii) firms engaged in complex, ad5 vanced manufacturing production require 

6 greater capital and more time than non7 production firms. 

8 ‘‘(B) IN GENERAL.—The Unit may, as an 

9 investor, support projects with funds or use 

10 other mechanisms for the purpose of pur11 chasing, and may make and fund commitments 

12 to purchase, invest in, make pledges in respect 

13 of, or otherwise acquire, equity or quasi-equity 

14 securities or shares or financial interests of any 

15 entity, including as a limited partner or other 

16 investor in investment funds, upon such terms 

17 and conditions as the Unit may determine. 

18 ‘‘(C) FUNDING.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For the purpose 

20 of investments under subparagraph (B), 

21 the Unit shall use the amounts authorized 

22 under section 212(a)(2) of the Americas 

23 Act. 

24 ‘‘(ii) ESCROW.—For any investment 

25 under this paragraph, the Unit shall hold 


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1 in an escrow account funds, which shall be 

2 taken from the Re-shoring and Near-shor3 ing Account established under section 301 

4 of the Americas Act, in an amount that is 

5 equal to 5 percent of the amount of funds 

6 invested. 

7 ‘‘(iii) LIQUIDATION.—Upon liquida8 tion of any investment, the unit shall 

9 remit— 

10 ‘‘(I) the principal amount and 

11 any amount of interest required by 

12 the Secretary for the use of such prin13 cipal amount of such investment to 

14 the Secretary of the Treasury who 

15 shall use such amounts to replenish 

16 the amounts authorized under section 

17 212(a)(2) of the Americas Act; and 

18 ‘‘(II) any profit gained from and 

19 the amount held in escrow in accord20 ance with clause (ii) for such invest21 ment to the Secretary of the Treasury 

22 who shall deposit such funds in the 

23 Re-Shoring and Near-Shoring Ac24 count established under section 301 of 

25 that Act. 


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1 ‘‘(D) LIMITATIONS ON EQUITY INVEST2 MENTS.— 

3 ‘‘(i) CONTRIBUTIONS BY PARTNERS.— 

4 Any investment made by the Unit under 

5 this paragraph shall be accompanied by an 

6 investment of not less than 51 percent by 

7 the United States business or entity or 

8 government of an Americas partner coun9 try. 

10 ‘‘(ii) PER PROJECT LIMIT.—The ag11 gregate amount of equity investment by 

12 the Unit with respect to any project shall 

13 not exceed 49 percent. 

14 ‘‘(6) JOINT INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIPS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Unit may enter 

16 into joint investment partnerships with inter17 national financial institutions or other similar 

18 institutions, including the World Bank and the 

19 Andean Development Corporation-Development 

20 Bank of Latin America. 

21 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding sub22 paragraph (A), the Unit may not enter into any 

23 partnership with any person, including any fi24 nancial institution, business, organization, or 

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1 cipal place of business in, or is otherwise di2 rectly or indirectly owned or controlled by of 

3 the government of the Russian Federation, the 

4 People’s Republic of China, or any member 

5 country of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peo6 ples of Our America (ALBA). 

7 ‘‘(C) INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITU8 TIONS DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term 

9 ‘international financial institutions’ has the 

10 meaning given that term in section 1701(c)(2) 

11 of the International Financial Institutions Act 

12 (22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(2)). 

13 ‘‘(7) INSURANCE AND REINSURANCE.— 

14 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In order to ensure the 

15 protection of the investments of United States 

16 businesses, in whole or in part, against any po17 litical risks, such as currency inconvertibility 

18 and transfer restrictions, expropriation, war, 

19 terrorism, civil disturbance, breach of contract, 

20 and nonhonoring of financial obligations, the 

21 Unit may issue to United States businesses that 

22 invest in Americas partner countries insurance 

23 or reinsurance— 

24 ‘‘(i) upon such terms and conditions 

25 as the Unit may determine; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) at 100 percent of the value of 

2 the insured investment. 

3 ‘‘(B) ESCROW.—For any insurance or re4 insurance described in subparagraph (A), the 

5 Unit shall hold in an escrow account at a com6 mercial bank funds, which shall be taken from 

7 the Re-shoring and Near-shoring Account es8 tablished under section 301 of the Americas 

9 Act, in an amount that is equal to 5 percent of 

10 the insurance amount. 

11 ‘‘(C) RATES.—Any insurance or reinsur12 ance described in subparagraph (A) may be 

13 issued at a lower rate than the lowest available 

14 rate for equivalent insurance or reinsurance in 

15 the local market.’’. 

16 SEC. 253. AMERICAS PARTNERSHIP ENTERPRISE FUND. 

17 (a) DESIGNATION.—The President, after consulta18 tion with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, 

19 the minority leader of the House of Representatives, the 

20 majority leader of the Senate, the minority leader of the 

21 Senate, the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Com22 merce, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Adminis23 trator of the United States Agency for International De24 velopment, may designate a private, nonprofit organiza25 tion registered in an Americas partner country that is esVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:10 Mar 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00131 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7571.IH H7571

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1 tablished to carry out the purposes set forth in subsection 

2 (b) as the ‘‘Americas Partnership Enterprise Fund’’ (re3 ferred to in this section as the ‘‘Fund’’). 

4 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Fund are— 

5 (1) to support the development of ecosystems 

6 for critical supply chains in the Americas partner 

7 countries; 

8 (2) to support the development of private sector 

9 responses to migration; 

10 (3) to promote near-shoring strategic industry 

11 and supply chains from the People’s Republic of 

12 China; and 

13 (4) to support policies and practices conducive 

14 to private sector development in Americas partner 

15 countries through loans, grants, equity investments, 

16 feasibility studies, technical assistance, training, in17 surance, guarantees, and other measures. 

18 (c) GOVERNANCE.— 

19 (1) BOARD OF DIRECTORS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Fund shall be gov21 erned by a Board of Directors, consisting of 3, 

22 4, or 5 individuals described in subparagraph 

23 (C). 


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1 (B) APPOINTMENTS.—Not later than 90 

2 days after the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act, the President shall— 

4 (i) appoint the initial members of the 

5 Board of Directors, subject to the advice 

6 and consent of the Senate; and 

7 (ii) submit the names of such ap8 pointees to the Chair and Ranking Member 

9 of the Subcommittee on International 

10 Trade, Customs, and Global Competitive11 ness of the Committee on Finance of the 

12 Senate. 

13 (C) QUALIFICATIONS.—Each member of 

14 the Board of Directors— 

15 (i) shall be a citizen of an Americas 

16 partner country; 

17 (ii) may not be closely affiliated with 

18 any government, civil society organization, 

19 academic institution, think tank, or any 

20 other not-for-profit entity; and 

21 (iii) shall have demonstrated experi22 ence and expertise in the areas of private 

23 sector development in which the Fund is to 

24 be involved. 


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1 (D) TERM.—Each member of the Board of 

2 Directors shall serve for a term of 5 years. 

3 (E) CHAIRPERSON.—At its first meeting, 

4 the Board of Directors shall elect a Chair5 person, who may only serve in such position for 

6 a single term. 

7 (F) MEETINGS.—The Board of Directors 

8 shall meet not less frequently than quarterly. 

9 (G) APPOINTMENT OF EXECUTIVE DIREC10 TOR.—The Board of Directors shall unani11 mously appoint a qualified individual to serve as 

12 Executive Director of the Fund. The Executive 

13 Director shall be compensated at a rate equiva14 lent to level V of the Executive Schedule under 

15 section 5316 of title 5, United States Code. 

16 (H) VACANCIES.—If a vacancy occurs be17 fore the expiration of the term of a member of 

18 the Board of Directors, the President shall ap19 point an individual with the qualifications de20 scribed in subparagraph (C) to fill the remain21 der of such term, in the manner described in 

22 subparagraph (B). 

23 (2) STAFFING.— 

24 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Fund shall hire 

25 sufficient host country nationals to staff the 


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1 central office to ensure that Fund resources are 

2 managed appropriately and to carry out the 

3 day-to-day operations of the central office, in4 cluding— 

5 (i) program managers, who— 

6 (I) shall head the core manage7 ment unit; 

8 (II) may approve program ex9 penditures of up to $150,000; and 

10 (III) shall be evaluated primarily 

11 on the success of their respective port12 folios; and 

13 (ii) additional support staff, provided 

14 that not more than 25 percent of the 

15 Fund’s annual expenditures are used for 

16 staffing and administration. 

17 (B) ETHICS OFFICER.—The Fund shall 

18 have an ethics officer, who— 

19 (i) shall be responsible for oversight of 

20 the host country nationals; 

21 (ii) shall develop ethical standards for 

22 the management of the Fund; 

23 (iii) shall facilitate the mainstreaming 

24 of ethics with respect to the staff of the 

25 Fund; 


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1 (iv) may evaluate individual activities, 

2 as needed; and 

3 (v) should develop standard invest4 ment procedures that do not affect the 

5 flexibility and speed of the investment ac6 tivities. 

7 (C) PARTNERS.—The Fund shall partner 

8 with local entities, wholly-owned subsidiaries, 

9 and other instruments, as appropriate, to carry 

10 out investment activities in Americas partner 

11 countries, under the supervision of the central 

12 office. 

13 (3) LIMITATION ON COMPENSATION.—None of 

14 the amounts managed by the Fund may be used to 

15 provide any benefit to any member of the Board of 

16 Directors or to any officer or employee of the Fund, 

17 other than a reasonable salary as compensation for 

18 services rendered. 

19 (d) ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS.— 

20 (1) DEFINED TERM.—In this subsection, the 

21 term ‘‘qualified private sector entity’’ means a busi22 ness organization that is duly registered in the 

23 United States or in an Americas partner country. 

24 (2) IN GENERAL.—The Fund may provide 

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1 ices to qualified private sector entities, in accordance 

2 with paragraphs (3) through (7), for programs and 

3 projects that are consistent with the purposes de4 scribed in subsection (b). 

5 (3) GRANTS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Fund shall estab7 lish a process for awarding grants to qualified 

8 private sector entities to carry out activities 

9 that are consistent with the purposes described 

10 in subsection (b). 

11 (B) SELECTION OF GRANTEES.—Not later 

12 than 20 working days after receiving an appli13 cation for a grant under this paragraph, the 

14 Fund shall complete its review and evaluation 

15 of the application, using anticipated return on 

16 investment as the sole criterion for determining 

17 whether a grant will be awarded to the appli18 cant. 

19 (4) LOANS.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Fund shall estab21 lish a process for providing low-interest loans to 

22 qualified private sector entities to carry out ac23 tivities that are consistent with the purposes de24 scribed in subsection (b). Loans authorized 

25 under this paragraph may be offered in the 


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1 form of equity if the Fund determines that such 

2 form is appropriate. 

3 (B) SELECTION OF LOAN RECIPIENTS.— 

4 Not later than 20 working days after receiving 

5 an application for a loan under this paragraph, 

6 the Fund shall complete its review and evalua7 tion of the application, using anticipated return 

8 on investment as the sole criterion for deter9 mining whether a loan will be awarded to the 

10 applicant. 

11 (C) PARTNERSHIPS WITH COMMERCIAL

12 BANKS.—The Fund may enter into partner13 ships with commercial banks to manage loan 

14 portfolios under this paragraph. 

15 (5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Fund, with sup17 port from United States entities, such as the 

18 United States Trade and Development Agency 

19 and other agencies or offices based in the 

20 United States, may hire or contract with indi21 viduals and entities capable of providing tech22 nical assistance in support of the purposes de23 scribed in subsection (b). 

24 (B) SELECTION OF TECHNICAL ASSIST25 ANCE RECIPIENTS.—Not later than 20 working 


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1 days after receiving an application for technical 

2 assistance under this paragraph, the Fund shall 

3 complete its review and evaluation of the appli4 cation, using anticipated return on investment 

5 as the sole criterion for determining whether 

6 the requested technical assistance will be 

7 awarded to the applicant. 

8 (C) ELIGIBLE PARTNER COUNTRIES.— 

9 Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the 

10 United States Trade and Development Agency 

11 may work in any Americas partner country re12 gardless of income status designation. 

13 (D) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIA14 TIONS.—There is authorized to be appropriated 

15 to the United States Trade and Development 

16 Agency $10,000,000, which shall be expended 

17 on activities related to partnership agreements 

18 entered into under section 201. 

19 (6) GOODS AND SERVICES.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Fund may directly 

21 procure and deploy goods and services to the 

22 extent required to support the purposes de23 scribed in subsection (b). 

24 (B) SELECTION OF GOODS AND SERVICES

25 RECIPIENTS.—Not later than 20 working days 


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1 after receiving an application for goods or serv2 ices under this paragraph, the Fund shall com3 plete its review and evaluation of the applica4 tion, using anticipated return on investment as 

5 the sole criterion for determining whether the 

6 requested goods or services will be provided to 

7 the applicant. 

8 (7) GOVERNMENT SUPPORT.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Fund may provide 

10 cash and in-kind goods or services to foreign 

11 governmental entities in order to advance the 

12 purposes described in subsection (b). 

13 (B) SELECTION OF GOVERNMENT RECIPI14 ENTS.—Not later than 20 working days after 

15 receiving an application from a foreign govern16 ment for cash or in-kind goods or services 

17 under this paragraph, the Fund shall complete 

18 its review and evaluation of such application. 

19 (e) FUNDING.— 

20 (1) AUTHORIZATION.—During the first fiscal 

21 year beginning after the date of the enactment of 

22 this Act, the Fund shall receive $1,000,000,000 

23 from the Re-shoring and Near-shoring Account es24 tablished under section 301 for initial capitalization. 


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1 The Fund may be recapitalized in accordance with 

2 paragraph (4). 

3 (2) FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS.—In order to 

4 maximize the resources available to carry out the ac5 tivities authorized under this Act, the Fund should 

6 establish financial instruments that enable private 

7 businesses in Americas partner countries with a 

8 commercial nexus in the United States to effectively 

9 multiply the impact of United States grants awarded 

10 by the Fund. 

11 (3) DISTRIBUTION OF RETURN ON INVEST12 MENTS.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Fund may dis14 tribute financial returns on Fund investments, 

15 include private venture capital, equity, or loan 

16 repayments, at such times and in such amounts 

17 as the Board of Directors may determine, to 

18 the central account of the Fund. 

19 (B) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense 

20 of Congress that the return on investment de21 scribed in subparagraph (A) should— 

22 (i) recapitalize the central account of 

23 the Fund; 

24 (ii) guarantee the sustainability of the 

25 Fund; 


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1 (iii) limit the need for additional ap2 propriations to the Fund; 

3 (iv) spur additional investment; 

4 (v) promote small and medium-sized 

5 enterprises; 

6 (vi) advance good governance and 

7 transparency; and 

8 (vii) promote job creation. 

9 (4) ADDITIONAL REVENUE.—After 80 percent 

10 of the initial capital in the Fund has been expended 

11 pursuant to paragraph (1), the Board of Directors 

12 may request additional capital for the Fund by— 

13 (A) submitting a request to the Re-shoring 

14 and Near-shoring Account that identifies the 

15 additional amount needed for the Fund; and 

16 (B) submitting a report to Congress that 

17 details the Fund’s activities and justifies the 

18 need for the additional capital. 

19 (5) NONAPPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—Not20 withstanding any other provision of law, amounts 

21 appropriated pursuant to this subsection may be 

22 made available to the Fund and used for the pur23 poses set forth in this section. 

24 (f) LIMITATIONS ON ASSISTANCE.— 


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1 (1) MAJOR EXPENDITURES.—The Fund may 

2 not provide any grant, loan, technical assistance, or 

3 government support valued in excess of $499,999 

4 unless the Board of Directors approves such action 

5 in advance. 

6 (2) RECORDKEEPING.—The Fund shall use the 

7 e-governance platform to maintain a database con8 taining relevant information, as established by the 

9 Secretary of Commerce, regarding activities of the 

10 Fund, which shall be accessible by any member of 

11 the Board of Directors at any time. 

12 (3) MINOR EXPENDITURES.—A member of the 

13 Board of Directors may not approve, deny, or influ14 ence the approval or denial of an expenditure by the 

15 Fund valued at less than $500,000 unless the Board 

16 of Directors determines that the individual author17 ized to approve or deny such expenditure, subject to 

18 the thresholds under this section, has engaged in 

19 independently verified malfeasance. 

20 (g) ANNUAL REPORTS.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Fund shall submit an 

22 annual report to the Board of Directors that— 

23 (A) describes the status of the registration 

24 and management of the Fund; 


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1 (B) identifies the activities undertaken by 

2 the Fund, disaggregated by activity type, coun3 try, and strategic sector; and 

4 (C) details the successes and failures of 

5 such activities. 

6 (2) CONGRESS.—The Board of Directors shall 

7 annually submit— 

8 (A) to Congress a copy of each report re9 ceived pursuant to paragraph (1); and 

10 (B) to the Committee on Finance of the 

11 Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means 

12 of the House of Representatives a chapter with13 in the comprehensive Department of Commerce 

14 report that identifies, for the reporting period— 

15 (i) the number of grants, loans, in16 stances of technical assistance, goods and 

17 services, and other Government support 

18 provided by the Fund; 

19 (ii) the repayment rates for the loans 

20 and other support referred to in clause (i); 

21 (iii) a summary of activities conducted 

22 by the Fund; 

23 (iv) the countries in which the Fund 

24 is conducting such activities; 


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1 (v) success stories involving entities 

2 receiving assistance from the Fund; 

3 (vi) lessons learned from the activities 

4 conducted by the Fund; and 

5 (vii) any other information contained 

6 in other reports required under this Act 

7 that relates to the Fund. 

8 (h) AUDITS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not less frequently than an10 nually, the activities of the Fund shall be subject to 

11 an audit by an independent private entity selected by 

12 the Board of Directors. 

13 (2) REPORT.— 

14 (A) FINDINGS.—Each independent private 

15 entity referred to in paragraph (1) shall submit 

16 a report to the Board of Directors that contains 

17 the findings of the audit conducted pursuant to 

18 such paragraph. 

19 (B) PUBLIC ACCESSIBILITY.—The Board 

20 of Directors shall post the report received pur21 suant to subparagraph (A) on the Fund’s pub22 licly accessible website. 

23 (i) DURATION.—The Fund shall remain operational 

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1 est shall be returned to the central account of the Fund, 

2 with the goal that the Fund become self-sufficient. 

3 (j) NONAPPLICABILITY OF OTHER LAWS.—Notwith4 standing any other provision of law, executive branch 

5 agencies may conduct programs and activities and provide 

6 services in support of the activities of the Fund. 

7 SEC. 254. NEAR-SHORING OF STRATEGIC SUPPLY CHAINS. 

8 (a) STATEMENT OF POLICY.—It is the policy of the 

9 United States— 

10 (1) to advance United States national security 

11 goals and hemispheric foreign policy and develop12 ment goals by assisting countries in the Western 

13 Hemisphere to establish the ecosystems necessary to 

14 host strategic industries in order to reduce 

15 vulnerabilities of the United States, in particular 

16 with respect to supply chains based, as of the date 

17 of the enactment of this Act, in the People’s Repub18 lic of China; and 

19 (2) to reduce the influence of the People’s Re20 public of China in the Western Hemisphere. 

21 (b) IDENTIFICATION OF STRATEGIC SUPPLY CHAINS, 

22 PRODUCTS, AND ENTITIES.— 

23 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 90 

24 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

25 annually thereafter, the Secretary of State, through 


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1 the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the 

2 Americas Partnership established under section 

3 203(c)(1), and in coordination with the United 

4 States Trade Representative, the Secretary of Com5 merce, and other appropriate officials, shall submit 

6 to Congress a report identifying— 

7 (A) supply chains identified under Execu8 tive Order 14017 (86 Fed. Reg. 11849; relating 

9 to America’s supply chains), as amended on or 

10 after the date of the enactment of this Act, lo11 cated in the Western Hemisphere (in this sec12 tion referred to as ‘‘strategic supply chains’’); 

13 (B) products produced by such supply 

14 chains; and 

15 (C) entities that are part of such supply 

16 chains. 

17 (2) OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEAR-SHORING.— 

18 (A) IN GENERAL.—The report required by 

19 paragraph (1) shall list opportunities for near20 shoring of products within strategic supply 

21 chains and support for such near-shoring iden22 tified under subsection (c). 

23 (B) CONSULTATIONS.—In identifying op24 portunities for near-shoring under subpara25 graph (A), the Secretary— 


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1 (i) shall consult with United States in2 dustry to obtain feasibility studies, viability 

3 plans, and letters of commitment relating 

4 to such opportunities; and 

5 (ii) may issue requests for information 

6 relating to such opportunities to determine 

7 the needs of industry with respect to near8 shoring strategic supply chains. 

9 (3) WORK PLAN.—The report required by para10 graph (1) shall include a work plan setting forth a 

11 prioritization for the near-shoring of products within 

12 strategic supply chains, including the tools to be 

13 used and the authorities to be exercised in the imple14 mentation of such near-shoring as part of a special 

15 economic initiative under subsection (d). 

16 (c) IDENTIFICATION AND SUPPORT FOR NEAR-SHOR17 ING OF PRODUCTS IN STRATEGIC SUPPLY CHAINS.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, 

19 in consultation with the Secretary of State and the 

20 heads of other relevant Federal agencies— 

21 (A) shall, in partnership with industry and 

22 stakeholders, identify opportunities that would 

23 be appropriate for near-shoring; and 

24 (B) may provide funding to support such 

25 opportunities as provided in this title. 


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1 (2) PREFERENCES.—In selecting among oppor2 tunities for near-shoring that will receive funding 

3 under paragraph (1), the Secretary of Commerce, in 

4 consultation with the Secretary of State and the 

5 heads of other relevant Federal agencies, shall give 

6 preference to opportunities for the near-shoring of 

7 products that— 

8 (A) have the support of the government of 

9 the country in which the production of the 

10 product will take place; and 

11 (B) can attract private investment. 

12 (3) PRODUCTION IN NON-AMERICAS PARTNER

13 COUNTRIES.—The Secretary of Commerce may pro14 vide funding under this subsection to near-shore the 

15 production of a product identified under subsection 

16 (b)(1)(B) to a country that is not an Americas part17 ner country if the Secretary determines and certifies 

18 to Congress that there are no opportunities appro19 priate for re-shoring or near-shoring to Americas 

20 partner countries. 

21 (d) SPECIAL ECONOMIC INITIATIVE.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall establish 

23 a special economic initiative for strategic supply 

24 chains, to be administered by the Department of 

25 Commerce, under which the tools described in the 


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1 provisions of and amendments made by this subtitle 

2 and subtitle D are made available to Americas part3 ner countries and such other countries as the Presi4 dent considers appropriate. 

5 (2) NOTIFICATION TO CONGRESS; PLAN.—Not 

6 less than 15 days before exercising the authority 

7 provided by paragraph (1) to establish a special eco8 nomic initiative with respect to a country, the Presi9 dent shall— 

10 (A) notify Congress of the intention of the 

11 President to exercise that authority; and 

12 (B) submit to Congress a plan for the ini13 tiative, which shall include a description of— 

14 (i) the sector involved; 

15 (ii) the projects involved; 

16 (iii) an analysis, including environ17 mental analysis, available with respect to 

18 the initiative; 

19 (iv) the agreement with the govern20 ment of the country with respect to the ini21 tiative; and 

22 (v) the cost of the initiative. 

23 (3) AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO AGREE24 MENTS.—The President may enter into agreements 

25 using authorities of Federal agencies, including the 


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1 Department of State, the United States Agency for 

2 International Development, the Department of Com3 merce, the Department of Defense, the Department 

4 of Energy, the Department of Agriculture, the De5 partment of Health and Human Services, or any 

6 other authorities the President considers appro7 priate, to advance a special economic initiative under 

8 paragraph (1). 

9 (4) WAIVER OF COMPETITION REQUIRE10 MENTS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The President may 

12 waive the requirements of title 41, United 

13 States Code, relating to competition in the 

14 awarding of Government contracts in the case 

15 of a contract related to the near-shoring of 

16 strategic supply chains through a special eco17 nomic initiative under paragraph (1) if the eth18 ics officer of the agency seeking to enter into 

19 the contract evaluates the contract and the cer20 tifies that there are no conflicts of interest. 

21 (B) TIMING OF EVALUATION.—An ethics 

22 officer shall have not less than 20 business days 

23 to conduct an evaluation described in subpara24 graph (A). 


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1 (5) ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR NEAR-SHORING

2 UNDER SPECIAL ECONOMIC INITIATIVE.— 

3 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Com4 merce, in coordination with the Secretary of 

5 State and the heads of other agencies that op6 erate under the foreign policy guidance of the 

7 Secretary of State, shall, as appropriate, 

8 prioritize and expedite the efforts of the De9 partment of Commerce, the Department of 

10 State, the Department of the Treasury, and 

11 such other agencies in supporting the efforts of 

12 the United States Government to incentivize 

13 near-shoring through financial and nonfinancial 

14 methods, including methods described in this 

15 subsection, and Americas partner countries to 

16 support near-shoring and increase investment in 

17 entities identified under subsection (b)(1)(C) 

18 by— 

19 (i) providing diplomatic, political, and 

20 economic support to such entities in Amer21 icas partner countries or other countries in 

22 the Western Hemisphere identified by the 

23 Secretary of Commerce as necessary; 

24 (ii) facilitating negotiations con25 cerning cross-border infrastructure, such 


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1 as electric grids, ports, trains, or other in2 frastructure that crosses borders; 

3 (iii) providing technical and grant as4 sistance to enhance the regulatory and 

5 labor environments of Americas partner 

6 countries and other such other countries to 

7 facilitate United States business invest8 ments; and 

9 (iv) facilitating both early-stage 

10 project support and late-stage project sup11 port to such entities with respect to near12 shoring. 

13 (B) EXPORT PROTECTION.— 

14 (i) IN GENERAL.—An entity identified 

15 under subparagraph (C) of subsection 

16 (b)(1) that receives assistance with re17 shoring or near-shoring production of a 

18 product identified under subparagraph (B) 

19 of that subsection is eligible to receive ex20 port protection as described in clause (iii). 

21 (ii) REPORT TO DEPARTMENT OF

22 COMMERCE.—If the application of an enti23 ty submitted under clause (i) is approved, 

24 the entity shall submit to the Secretary of 

25 Commerce a report specifying the average 


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1 production level of the product described in 

2 that clause in the United States for the 3 

3 calendar years preceding submission of the 

4 report. 

5 (iii) AMOUNT OF EXPORTS PROVIDED

6 EXPORT PROTECTION.—If the quantity of 

7 production in the United States of a prod8 uct described in clause (i) exceeds the level 

9 specified under clause (ii), the quantity in 

10 excess of that level may be exported with11 out being subject to export controls or any 

12 other restrictions on exportation (subject 

13 to such exceptions as the President may 

14 declare are in the national security inter15 ests of the United States). 

16 (C) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

17 (i) EARLY-STAGE PROJECT SUP18 PORT.—The term ‘‘early-stage project sup19 port’’ includes the following: 

20 (I) Feasibility studies. 

21 (II) Long-term strategic supply 

22 chain planning. 

23 (III) Resource evaluations. 

24 (IV) Project appraisal and cost25 ing. 


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1 (V) Pilot projects. 

2 (VI) Commercial support, such 

3 as trade missions, reverse trade mis4 sions, technical workshops, inter5 national buyer programs, and inter6 national partner searchers to link sup7 pliers to projects. 

8 (VII) Technical assistance and 

9 other guidance to improve the local 

10 regulatory environment and market 

11 frameworks to encourage transparent 

12 competition. 

13 (ii) LATE-STAGE PROJECT SUP14 PORT.—The term ‘‘late-stage project sup15 port’’ includes support of the type provided 

16 by the BUILD Americas Unit. 

17 (6) SOURCE OF FUNDS.—Funding for a special 

18 economic initiative under paragraph (1) shall be 

19 taken from the Re-shoring and Near-shoring Ac20 count established under section 301. 

21 (e) REGULATORY ALIGNMENT.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce, 

23 in coordination with the Americas Partnership busi24 ness advisory board established by the Americas 

25 Partnership Secretariat under section 202, and with 


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1 support from appropriate officials of the United 

2 States Government, such as the Assistant United 

3 States Trade Representative for the Americas Part4 nership established under section 203(b) and the of5 ficial of the Trade and Development Agency with 

6 lead responsibility for the implementation of this 

7 title, shall begin a process of regulatory alignment 

8 with respect to supply chains and products identified 

9 under subsection (b)(1) with— 

10 (A) Americas partner countries; and 

11 (B) any other country that benefits from 

12 the near-shoring of the production of a product 

13 identified under subsection (b)(1)(B) to the 

14 country. 

15 (2) PRIORITIZATION OF PHARMACEUTICALS.— 

16 In carrying out the process described in paragraph 

17 (1), the Secretary shall begin with regulatory align18 ment with respect to pharmaceuticals. 

19 (3) REPORTS REQUIRED.—The Secretary shall 

20 submit to Congress and make available to the public 

21 reports on the success of efforts under paragraph 

22 (1) on a continuous basis. 

23 (f) UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

24 FINANCE CORPORATION.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of supporting 

2 near-shoring of strategic supply chains to Americas 

3 partner countries and such other countries as the 

4 President considers appropriate, the United States 

5 International Development Finance Corporation (in 

6 this subsection referred to as the ‘‘Corporation’’) 

7 may provide support under title II of the Better Uti8 lization of Investments Leading to Development Act 

9 of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 9621 et seq.) to countries with 

10 upper-middle-income economies or high-income 

11 economies (as those terms are defined by the World 

12 Bank) without regard to the limitation under section 

13 1412(c)(2) of that Act (22 U.S.C. 9612(c)(2)). 

14 (2) LIMITATIONS.—The Corporation shall re15 strict the provision of support to a country described 

16 in paragraph (1) unless— 

17 (A) the President certifies to the appro18 priate congressional committees (as defined in 

19 section 1402 of the Better Utilization of Invest20 ments Leading to Development Act of 2018 (22 

21 U.S.C. 9601)) that such support furthers the 

22 national economic or foreign policy interests of 

23 the United States; and 

24 (B) such support is— 


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1 (i) designed to support the develop2 ment of strategic supply chains in coun3 tries other than the People’s Republic of 

4 China; or 

5 (ii) necessary to preempt or counter 

6 efforts by a strategic competitor of the 

7 United States to secure significant political 

8 or economic leverage or acquire national 

9 security-sensitive technologies or infra10 structure in a country that is an ally or 

11 partner of the United States. 

12 (g) DUTIES AND SUBSIDIES.—An entity organized 

13 under the laws of an Americas partner country or another 

14 country, as the President considers appropriate, that is 

15 part of a strategic supply chain shall be treated not less 

16 favorably than a United States person with respect to du17 ties, subsidies, and other related issues. 

18 (h) MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION.—The 

19 Millennium Challenge Corporation may provide assistance 

20 under the Millennium Challenge Act of 2003 (22 U.S.C. 

21 7701 et seq.) to an Americas partner country or another 

22 country, as the President considers appropriate, for pur23 poses of supporting the near-shoring of strategic supply 

24 chains without regard to— 


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1 (1) any requirement of that Act relating to 

2 competitive procedures; or 

3 (2) the requirement to enter into a Compact 

4 under section 609 of that Act (22 U.S.C. 7708). 

5 (i) TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY.—The 

6 Trade and Development Agency may provide assistance 

7 under the section 661 of the Foreign Assistance Act of 

8 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2421) to all Americas partner countries, 

9 without regard to the limitation under subsection (a) of 

10 that section, for purposes of supporting the near-shoring 

11 of strategic supply chains. 

12 (j) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The United States 

13 Agency for International Development, the Corporation, 

14 the Trade and Development Agency, and other relevant 

15 agencies shall provide technical assistance with respect to 

16 the near-shoring of strategic supply chains. 

17 SEC. 255. TRANSFORMATIONAL ENERGY DEVELOPMENT. 

18 (a) CHIEF ENERGY OFFICER.—The BUILD Act of 

19 2018 (22 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) is amended— 

20 (1) in section 1402— 

21 (A) by redesignating paragraphs (3) and 

22 (4) as paragraphs (5) and (6), respectively; 

23 (B) by redesignating paragraph (2) as 

24 paragraph (3); 


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1 (C) by inserting after paragraph (1) the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(2) EARLY-STAGE PROJECT TECHNICAL AS4 SISTANCE.—The term ‘early-stage project technical 

5 assistance’ includes— 

6 ‘‘(A) feasibility studies; 

7 ‘‘(B) resource evaluations; 

8 ‘‘(C) project appraisal and costing; 

9 ‘‘(D) pilot projects; 

10 ‘‘(E) commercial support, such as trade 

11 missions, reverse trade missions, technical 

12 workshops, international buyer projects, and 

13 international partner searchers to link supplies 

14 to projects; 

15 ‘‘(F) technical assistance and other guid16 ance to improve the local regulatory environ17 ment and market frameworks to encourage 

18 transparent competition and enhance energy se19 curity; and 

20 ‘‘(G) long-term energy sector planning.’’; 

21 (D) by inserting after paragraph (3) (as so 

22 redesignated) the following: 

23 ‘‘(4) MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT BANKS.— 

24 The term ‘multilateral development banks’ has the 

25 meaning given that term in section 1701(c) of the 


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1 International Financial Institutions Act (22 U.S.C. 

2 262r(c)).’’; and 

3 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(7) TRANSFORMATIONAL ENERGY TECH5 NOLOGY.—The term ‘transformational energy tech6 nology’ means— 

7 ‘‘(A) renewable energy systems; 

8 ‘‘(B) hydrogen fuel cell technology for resi9 dential, energy, industrial, or transportation ap10 plications; 

11 ‘‘(C) advanced nuclear energy facilities; 

12 ‘‘(D) carbon capture, utilization, and se13 questration technologies; 

14 ‘‘(E) efficient electrical generation, trans15 mission, and distribution technologies; 

16 ‘‘(F) pollution control equipment; 

17 ‘‘(G) energy storage technologies for resi18 dential, industrial, and transportation applica19 tions; 

20 ‘‘(H) technologies and systems for reduc21 ing potent greenhouse gas pollutants, including 

22 methane leakage from natural gas transmission 

23 and distribution infrastructure; 


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1 ‘‘(I) manufacturing and deployment of nu2 clear supply components for advanced nuclear 

3 reactors; 

4 ‘‘(J) system-level energy management solu5 tions; 

6 ‘‘(K) application of platform technologies, 

7 including data analytics, artificial intelligence, 

8 and other software to improve the energy effi9 ciency and effectiveness of energy infrastruc10 ture, including electric grid operation; 

11 ‘‘(L) energy-water use efficiency in water 

12 resources infrastructure and water-using tech13 nologies; 

14 ‘‘(M) carbon capture ready combined cycle 

15 natural gas generation facilities; 

16 ‘‘(N) carbon capture ready supercritical or 

17 ultra-supercritical coal generation facilities; 

18 ‘‘(O) innovative technologies for improving 

19 the resilience or reliability of existing energy in20 frastructure, including innovative approaches to 

21 improve the cybersecurity of energy tech22 nologies; 

23 ‘‘(P) innovative technologies for reducing 

24 greenhouse emissions from industrial processes; 


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1 ‘‘(Q) technologies used in the sourcing or 

2 processing of critical minerals; 

3 ‘‘(R) technologies used in the gasification 

4 or transport of natural gas, carbon dioxide, or 

5 hydrogen; and 

6 ‘‘(S) any other technology, including recy7 cled, reused, refurbished, any repurposed tech8 nology, to support innovative energy tech9 nologies or provide an input or application for 

10 such technologies.’’; 

11 (2) in section 1413— 

12 (A) in subsection (a), by inserting ‘‘a Chief 

13 Energy Office,’’ after ‘‘a Chief Development Of14 ficer,’’; and 

15 (B) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(j) CHIEF ENERGY OFFICER.— 

17 ‘‘(1) APPOINTMENT.—Subject to the approval 

18 of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer of the Cor19 poration, with the concurrence of the Administrator 

20 of the United States Agency for International Devel21 opment, shall appoint a Chief Energy Officer from 

22 among individuals with experience in energy develop23 ment. 

24 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Chief Energy Officer 

25 shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) promote the export of trans2 formational energy technology to be used in the 

3 development, production, and distribution of en4 ergy resources, critical minerals, and energy ef5 ficiency and energy storage equipment; 

6 ‘‘(B) to the maximum extent practicable, 

7 seek to identify development opportunities and 

8 engage in early-stage project technical assist9 ance to promote transformational energy tech10 nology projects; and 

11 ‘‘(C) using broad criteria, make efforts to 

12 ensure that the proportion of projects for which 

13 the Corporation provides support that are 

14 transformational energy technology projects 

15 is— 

16 ‘‘(i) not less than 30 percent of each 

17 form of support provided by the Corpora18 tion; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) not less than 30 percent of the 

20 total support provided by the Corporation 

21 for projects sponsored by or involving pri22 vate sector entities that are United States 

23 persons. 

24 ‘‘(3) REPORTS REQUIRED.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 

2 year after the date of the enactment of this 

3 subsection, and annually thereafter, the Chief 

4 Energy Officer shall submit to the appropriate 

5 congressional committees a report on trans6 formational energy technology projects that in7 cludes a description of— 

8 ‘‘(i) the development of such projects; 

9 ‘‘(ii) such projects under consideration 

10 for support by the Corporation; 

11 ‘‘(iii) coordination with other Federal 

12 agencies and with multilateral development 

13 banks with respect to such projects; 

14 ‘‘(iv) actions taken to identify oppor15 tunities for such projects and provide 

16 early-stage project technical assistance for 

17 such projects; and 

18 ‘‘(v) competition from multilateral de19 velopment banks with respect to support 

20 for such projects. 

21 ‘‘(B) ENERGY DEVELOPMENT REPORT.— 

22 Not later than 30 days following the close of 

23 each fiscal quarter, the Chief Energy Officer 

24 shall update the Joint Energy Export, Develop25 ment, and Trade Database established under 


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1 section 255(d) of the Americas Act with infor2 mation relevant to the international finance of 

3 energy generation and associated infrastructure 

4 as determined by the Deputy Assistant Sec5 retary for the Americas Partnership.’’; and 

6 (3) in title V, by adding at the end the fol7 lowing: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1455. ENERGY FINANCING CONSIDERATIONS. 

9 ‘‘(a) EXCEPTION FOR LESS DEVELOPED COUN10 TRIES.—Notwithstanding section 1412(c), if the Corpora11 tion determines that a project to be carried out in a coun12 try that is not a less developed country and is under con13 sideration for support from the Corporation may receive 

14 financing from the Government of the Russian Federation 

15 or the Government of the People’s Republic of China, the 

16 Corporation may dedicate not more than 20 percent of the 

17 funds available to provide support for transformational en18 ergy technology projects to such country. 

19 ‘‘(b) SUBSTITUTION EFFECT CONSIDERATION.—In 

20 any environmental assessment for a transformational en21 ergy technology project under consideration for support 

22 provided by the Corporation, the Chief Energy Officer 

23 shall consider— 

24 ‘‘(1) whether the project is under consideration 

25 for support from another country with— 


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1 ‘‘(A) greater emission intensity than the 

2 United States; or 

3 ‘‘(B) less stringent environmental stand4 ards than the United States; and 

5 ‘‘(2) the environmental impacts that would 

6 occur if— 

7 ‘‘(A) the Corporation declined to provide 

8 support; and 

9 ‘‘(B) a country with greater emission in10 tensity or less stringent environmental stand11 ards than the United States provided financing 

12 to develop the project. 

13 ‘‘(c) PUBLICATION OF TERMS.—Not later than 18 

14 months after the commencement of construction on a 

15 transformational energy technology project, the Chief En16 ergy Officer shall make publicly available the terms of the 

17 contract for the project.’’. 

18 (b) OFFICE OF ENERGY.—Section 2(b)(1) of the Ex19 port-Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635(b)(1)) is 

20 amended— 

21 (1) by striking subparagraph (C) and inserting 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(C) OFFICE OF ENERGY.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be in the 

2 Bank the Office of Energy (referred to in this sub3 paragraph as the ‘Office’). 

4 ‘‘(ii) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the Office 

5 shall be to promote the export of goods and services 

6 to be used in the development, production, and dis7 tribution of eligible technologies. 

8 ‘‘(iii) EARLY-STAGE PROJECT TECHNICAL AS9 SISTANCE.—The Office shall provide, to the max10 imum extent practicable, early-stage project tech11 nical assistance to promote eligible technologies. 

12 ‘‘(iv) REPORTS REQUIRED.— 

13 ‘‘(I) ANNUAL REPORT.—Not later than 1 

14 year after the date of the enactment of the 

15 Americas Act, and annually thereafter, the Of16 fice shall submit to the appropriate congres17 sional committees a report on— 

18 ‘‘(aa) the development of projects for 

19 the export of goods and services to be used 

20 in the development, production, and dis21 tribution of eligible technologies; 

22 ‘‘(bb) such projects under consider23 ation for support by the Bank; 


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1 ‘‘(cc) coordination with other Federal 

2 agencies and with multilateral development 

3 banks with respect to such projects; 

4 ‘‘(dd) actions taken to identify oppor5 tunities for such projects and provide 

6 early-stage project technical assistance for 

7 such projects; and 

8 ‘‘(ee) competition from multilateral 

9 development banks with respect to support 

10 for projects. 

11 ‘‘(II) ENERGY DEVELOPMENT REPORT.— 

12 Not later than 30 days following the close of 

13 each fiscal quarter, the Office shall update the 

14 Joint Energy Export, Development, and Trade 

15 Database established under section 255(d) of 

16 the Americas Act with information relevant to 

17 the international finance of energy generation 

18 and associated infrastructure as determined by 

19 the Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Amer20 icas Partnership. 

21 ‘‘(v) CONTENT POLICY ADJUSTMENTS.— 

22 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Bank may guar23 antee or insure not more than 100 percent of 

24 a contract for the export of goods and services 

25 to be used in the development, production, and 


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1 distribution of eligible technologies if not less 

2 than 50 percent of the goods and services to be 

3 exported under the contract are goods and serv4 ices that originated or were produced in the 

5 United States. 

6 ‘‘(II) ADJUSTMENT FOR LOCAL GOODS

7 AND SERVICES.—In the case of a project de8 scribed in subclause (I), the Bank may provide 

9 financing with respect to goods and services 

10 that were produced or originated in the country 

11 of the buyer in an amount not to exceed 50 per12 cent of the value of goods and services exported 

13 from the United States under the contract. 

14 ‘‘(vi) TARGET.— It shall be a goal of the Bank 

15 to ensure that not less than 30 percent of the appli16 cable amount (as defined in section 6(a)(2)) is made 

17 available each fiscal year for the financing of exports 

18 of goods and services to be used in the development, 

19 production, and distribution of eligible technologies. 

20 ‘‘(vii) SUBSTITUTION EFFECT CONSIDER21 ATION.—In any environmental assessment for a 

22 project for the export of goods and services to be 

23 used in the development, production, and distribu24 tion of eligible technologies under consideration for 


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1 support provided by the Bank, the Office shall con2 sider— 

3 ‘‘(I) whether the project is under consider4 ation for financing from another country with— 

5 ‘‘(aa) greater emission intensity than 

6 the United States; or 

7 ‘‘(bb) less stringent environmental 

8 standards than the United States; and 

9 ‘‘(II) the environmental impacts that would 

10 occur if— 

11 ‘‘(aa) the Bank declined to provide fi12 nancing; and 

13 ‘‘(bb) a country with greater emission 

14 intensity or less stringent environmental 

15 standards than the United States provided 

16 financing to develop the project. 

17 ‘‘(viii) PUBLICATION OF TERMS.—Not later 

18 than 18 months after the commencement of con19 struction on a project involving eligible technologies, 

20 the Office shall make publicly available the terms of 

21 the contract for the project. 

22 ‘‘(ix) DEFINITIONS.—In this subparagraph: 

23 ‘‘(I) EARLY-STAGE PROJECT TECHNICAL

24 ASSISTANCE.—The term ‘early-stage project 

25 technical assistance’ includes— 


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1 ‘‘(aa) feasibility studies; 

2 ‘‘(bb) resource evaluations; 

3 ‘‘(cc) project appraisal and costing; 

4 ‘‘(dd) pilot projects; 

5 ‘‘(ee) commercial support, such as 

6 trade missions, reverse trade missions, 

7 technical workshops, international buyer 

8 projects, and international partner search9 ers to link supplies to projects; 

10 ‘‘(ff) technical assistance and other 

11 guidance to improve the local regulatory 

12 environment and market frameworks to en13 courage transparent competition and en14 hance energy security; and 

15 ‘‘(gg) long-term energy sector plan16 ning. 

17 ‘‘(II) ELIGIBLE TECHNOLOGY.—The term 

18 ‘eligible technology’ means— 

19 ‘‘(aa) renewable energy systems; 

20 ‘‘(bb) hydrogen fuel cell technology for 

21 residential, energy, industrial, or transpor22 tation applications; 

23 ‘‘(cc) advanced nuclear energy facili24 ties; 


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1 ‘‘(dd) carbon capture, utilization, and 

2 sequestration technologies; 

3 ‘‘(ee) efficient electrical generation, 

4 transmission, and distribution technologies; 

5 ‘‘(ff) pollution control equipment; 

6 ‘‘(gg) energy storage technologies for 

7 residential, industrial, and transportation 

8 applications; 

9 ‘‘(hh) technologies and systems for re10 ducing potent greenhouse gas pollutants, 

11 including methane leakage from natural 

12 gas transmission and distribution infra13 structure; 

14 ‘‘(ii) manufacturing and deployment 

15 of nuclear supply components for advanced 

16 nuclear reactors; 

17 ‘‘(jj) system-level energy management 

18 solutions; 

19 ‘‘(kk) application of platform tech20 nologies, including data analytics, artificial 

21 intelligence, and other software to improve 

22 the energy efficiency and effectiveness of 

23 energy infrastructure, including electric 

24 grid operation; 


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1 ‘‘(ll) energy-water use efficiency in 

2 water resources infrastructure and water3 using technologies; 

4 ‘‘(mm) carbon capture ready com5 bined cycle natural gas generation facili6 ties; 

7 ‘‘(nn) carbon capture ready supercrit8 ical or ultra-supercritical coal generation 

9 facilities; 

10 ‘‘(oo) innovative technologies for im11 proving the resilience or reliability of exist12 ing energy infrastructure, including inno13 vative approaches to improve the cyberse14 curity of energy technologies; 

15 ‘‘(pp) innovative technologies for re16 ducing greenhouse emissions from indus17 trial processes; 

18 ‘‘(qq) technologies used in the 

19 sourcing or processing of critical minerals; 

20 ‘‘(rr) technologies used in the gasifi21 cation or transport of natural gas, carbon 

22 dioxide, or hydrogen; and 

23 ‘‘(ss) any other technology, including 

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1 tive energy technologies or provide an 

2 input or application for such tech3 nologies.’’; and 

4 (2) by striking subparagraph (K). 

5 (c) PROGRAM ON TRANSFORMATIONAL EXPORTS.— 

6 The Export-Import Bank Act of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635 et 

7 seq.) is amended— 

8 (1) in section 2(l)— 

9 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

10 ‘‘CHINA AND’’; 

11 (B) in paragraph (1)— 

12 (i) in the matter preceding subpara13 graph (A)— 

14 (I) by striking ‘‘China and’’; and 

15 (II) by striking ‘‘by the People’s 

16 Republic of China or’’; 

17 (ii) in subparagraph (A), by striking 

18 ‘‘by the People’s Republic of China or’’; 

19 and 

20 (iii) in subparagraph (B)— 

21 (I) in the matter preceding clause 

22 (i), by striking ‘‘the People’s Republic 

23 of China’’ and inserting ‘‘covered 

24 countries’’; and 


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1 (II) in clause (vi), by striking 

2 ‘‘Renewable energy’’ and inserting 

3 ‘‘Eligible technology’’; 

4 (C) in paragraph (2)— 

5 (i) by redesignating subparagraphs 

6 (A), (B), and (C) as subparagraphs (C), 

7 (D), and (E), respectively; and 

8 (ii) by inserting after the matter pre9 ceding subparagraph (C) (as redesignated 

10 by clause (i)) the following: 

11 ‘‘(C) the People’s Republic of China; and 

12 ‘‘(D) the Russian Federation;’’; and 

13 (D) in paragraph (3)— 

14 (i) in subparagraph (A)— 

15 (I) by striking ‘‘20 percent’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘50 percent’’; and 

17 (II) by striking ‘‘China and’’; 

18 (ii) in subparagraph (B), in the mat19 ter preceding clause (i)— 

20 (I) by striking ‘‘20 percent’’ and 

21 inserting ‘‘50 percent’’; and 

22 (II) by striking ‘‘the People’s Re23 public of China is’’ and inserting ‘‘the 

24 People’s Republic of China and the 

25 Russian Federation are’’; and 


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1 (iii) in subparagraph (D), by striking 

2 ‘‘China and’’; 

3 (2) in section 8(l)— 

4 (A) in the subsection heading, by striking 

5 ‘‘UNDER THE’’ and all that follows through 

6 ‘‘EXPORTS’’ and inserting ‘‘UNDER THE PRO7 GRAM ON TRANSFORMATIONAL EXPORTS’’; and 

8 (B) in the text, by striking ‘‘China and’’; 

9 and 

10 (3) in section 8A(a)(5)— 

11 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘RENEW12 ABLE’’ and inserting ‘‘CLEAN’’; 

13 (B) by striking ‘‘renewable’’ each place it 

14 appears and inserting ‘‘clean’’; and 

15 (C) by striking ‘‘section 2(b)(1)(K)’’ and 

16 inserting ‘‘section 2(b)(1)(C)’’. 

17 (d) JOINT ENERGY EXPORT, DEVELOPMENT, AND

18 TRADE DATABASE.— 

19 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 

20 (A) APPROPRIATE CONGRESSIONAL COM21 MITTEES.—The term ‘‘appropriate congres22 sional committees’’ means— 

23 (i) the Committee on Energy and 

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1 ing, and Urban Affairs, and the Committee 

2 on Foreign Relations of the Senate; and 

3 (ii) the Committee on Energy and 

4 Commerce, the Committee on Ways and 

5 Means, the Committee on Financial Serv6 ices, and the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

7 of the House of Representatives. 

8 (B) DATABASE.—The term ‘‘Database’’ 

9 means the Joint Energy Export, Development, 

10 and Trade Database. 

11 (C) DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The 

12 term ‘‘Deputy Assistant Secretary’’ means the 

13 Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Americas 

14 Partnership. 

15 (D) ELIGIBLE TECHNOLOGY.—The term 

16 ‘‘eligible technology’’ means— 

17 (i) renewable energy systems; 

18 (ii) hydrogen fuel cell technology for 

19 residential, energy, industrial, or transpor20 tation applications; 

21 (iii) advanced nuclear energy facilities; 

22 (iv) carbon capture, utilization, and 

23 sequestration technologies; 

24 (v) efficient electrical generation, 

25 transmission, and distribution technologies; 


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1 (vi) pollution control equipment; 

2 (vii) energy storage technologies for 

3 residential, industrial, and transportation 

4 applications; 

5 (viii) technologies and systems for re6 ducing potent greenhouse gas pollutants, 

7 including methane leakage from natural 

8 gas transmission and distribution infra9 structure; 

10 (ix) manufacturing and deployment of 

11 nuclear supply components for advanced 

12 nuclear reactors; 

13 (x) system-level energy management 

14 solutions; 

15 (xi) application of platform tech16 nologies, including data analytics, artificial 

17 intelligence, and other software to improve 

18 the energy efficiency and effectiveness of 

19 energy infrastructure, including electric 

20 grid operation; 

21 (xii) energy-water use efficiency in 

22 water resources infrastructure and water23 using technologies; 

24 (xiii) carbon capture ready combined 

25 cycle natural gas generation facilities; 


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1 (xiv) carbon capture ready supercrit2 ical or ultra-supercritical coal generation 

3 facilities; 

4 (xv) innovative technologies for im5 proving the resilience or reliability of exist6 ing energy infrastructure, including inno7 vative approaches to improve the cyberse8 curity of energy technologies; 

9 (xvi) innovative technologies for re10 ducing greenhouse emissions from indus11 trial processes; 

12 (xvii) technologies used in the 

13 sourcing or processing of critical minerals; 

14 (xviii) technologies used in the gasifi15 cation or transport of natural gas, carbon 

16 dioxide, or hydrogen; and 

17 (xix) any other technology to support 

18 innovative energy technologies or provide 

19 an input or application for such tech20 nologies. 

21 (2) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 days 

22 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec23 retary of Energy shall establish a database to be 

24 known as the ‘‘Joint Energy Export, Development, 

25 and Trade Database’’. 


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1 (3) MANAGEMENT.—The Deputy Assistant Sec2 retary shall— 

3 (A) manage the Database; 

4 (B) ensure the agencies described in para5 graph (5) may directly access the Database to 

6 provide the contents required under paragraph 

7 (4); and 

8 (C) ensure that the Database is interoper9 able with the e-government system. 

10 (4) CONTENTS.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Database shall 

12 contain information provided by each agency 

13 described in paragraph (5) and determined by 

14 the Deputy Assistant Secretary, in consultation 

15 with industry partners, to be relevant to the 

16 international finance of eligible technology, in17 cluding— 

18 (i) for each project related to eligible 

19 technology supported by the agency— 

20 (I) a description of the project; 

21 (II) an identification of the coun22 try in which the project is being car23 ried out; and 


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1 (III) an identification of the pri2 mary foreign participants in the 

3 project; 

4 (ii) details of the request for each 

5 such project, including— 

6 (I) the support requested, includ7 ing the technical assistance; and 

8 (II) project timelines; and 

9 (iii) a description of actions taken by 

10 the agency with respect to each such 

11 project regarding— 

12 (I) financing; 

13 (II) technical assistance; 

14 (III) potential hurdles; 

15 (IV) areas for collaboration 

16 among agencies; 

17 (V) relevant timelines; 

18 (VI) consideration of the effects 

19 of support being provided by another 

20 country if the agency declines to pro21 vide support, if applicable; and 

22 (VII) status updates. 

23 (B) ADDITIONAL CONTENT.—The Deputy 

24 Assistant Secretary may require such additional 

25 information to be included in the Database as 


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1 the Deputy Assistant Secretary considers nec2 essary— 

3 (i) to enable collaboration between the 

4 agencies described in paragraph (5); and 

5 (ii) to aid the expansion of energy fi6 nancing. 

7 (C) UPDATES TO DATABASE.—Each agen8 cy described in paragraph (5) shall update the 

9 Database not less frequently than quarterly. 

10 (5) AGENCIES DESCRIBED.—The agencies de11 scribed in this paragraph shall include— 

12 (A) the Department of Energy; 

13 (B) the Department of Commerce; 

14 (C) the Department of State; 

15 (D) the Export-Import Bank of the United 

16 States; 

17 (E) the United States International Devel18 opment Finance Corporation; 

19 (F) the Trade and Development Agency; 

20 (G) the United States Agency for Inter21 national Development; 

22 (H) the Department of the Treasury; 

23 (I) the Office of the United States Trade 

24 Representative; and 

25 (J) the BUILD Americas Unit. 


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1 (6) AGENCY COORDINATION.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 270 

3 days after the date of the enactment of this 

4 Act, and quarterly thereafter, the Deputy As5 sistant Secretary and other officials of equiva6 lent rank from the agencies described in para7 graph (5) shall meet to review the Database 

8 and identify areas for collaboration on projects 

9 described in the Database. 

10 (B) ADDITIONAL PARTICIPANTS.— 

11 (i) IN GENERAL.—The Deputy Assist12 ant Secretary may invite the individuals 

13 described in clause (ii) to attend the meet14 ings described in subparagraph (A). 

15 (ii) INDIVIDUALS DESCRIBED.—The 

16 individuals described in this subparagraph 

17 are— 

18 (I) the United States Executive 

19 Director of the World Bank Group; 

20 (II) the United States Executive 

21 Director of the Inter-American Devel22 opment Bank; 

23 (III) the United States Executive 

24 Director of the Asian Development 

25 Bank; 


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1 (IV) the United States Executive 

2 Director of the African Development 

3 Bank; 

4 (V) the United States Executive 

5 Director of the European Bank for 

6 Reconstruction and Development; and 

7 (VI) any other head of a Federal 

8 agency as the Deputy Assistant Sec9 retary considers appropriate. 

10 (7) REPORTS REQUIRED.—Not later than 270 

11 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, and 

12 quarterly thereafter, the Deputy Assistant Secretary 

13 shall submit to the appropriate congressional com14 mittees a report on the Database, which shall in15 clude— 

16 (A) a summary of the information provided 

17 in accordance with paragraph (4); and 

18 (B) an identification of key updates made 

19 by the agencies described in paragraph (5). 

20 (e) TREATMENT OF EQUITY INVESTMENTS AT THE

21 DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORATION.—Section 

22 1421(c) of the BUILD Act of 2018 (22 U.S.C. 9621(c)) 

23 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘(7) TREATMENT OF EQUITY INVESTMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to subpara2 graphs (B) and (C), support provided under 

3 paragraph (1) with respect to a project shall be 

4 considered a Federal credit program that is 

5 subject to the Federal Credit Reform Act of 

6 1990 (2 U.S.C. 661 et seq.) for purposes of ap7 plying the requirements of such Act to such 

8 support. 

9 ‘‘(B) DETERMINATION OF COST.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The cost (as de11 fined in subsection 502(5) of the Federal 

12 Credit Reform Act of 1990 (2 U.S.C. 

13 661a(5))) of support provided under para14 graph (1) with respect to a project shall be 

15 the net present value, at the time when 

16 funds are disbursed to provide the support, 

17 of the following estimated cash flows: 

18 ‘‘(I) The purchase price of the 

19 support. 

20 ‘‘(II) Dividends, redemptions, 

21 and other shareholder distributions 

22 during the term of the support. 

23 ‘‘(III) Proceeds received upon a 

24 sale, redemption, or other liquidation 

25 of the support. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) CHANGES IN TERMS IN2 CLUDED.—The estimated cash flows de3 scribed in subclauses (I) through (III) of 

4 clause (i) shall include the effects of 

5 changes in terms resulting from the exer6 cise of options included in the agreement 

7 to provide the support. 

8 ‘‘(C) TREATMENT OF RISK.— 

9 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation 

10 shall hold in reserve an amount equal to 5 

11 percent of the amount of financing out12 standing under paragraph (1) to ensure 

13 that the Corporation has funds available if 

14 necessary as a result of— 

15 ‘‘(I) any difference between the 

16 cost of support under paragraph (1) 

17 estimated before the date of the en18 actment of the Americas Act and re19 estimated, as required by this para20 graph, after such date of enactment; 

21 and 

22 ‘‘(II) any other losses that occur 

23 as the result of an equity investment. 

24 ‘‘(ii) DEDUCTION FROM MAXIMUM

25 CONTINGENT LIABILITY.—The maximum 


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1 contingent liability under section 1433 

2 shall be reduced by the amount held in re3 serve under clause (i).’’. 

4 (f) MODIFICATION OF MAXIMUM CONTINGENT LI5 ABILITY AT THE DEVELOPMENT FINANCE CORPORA6 TION.—Section 1433 of the BUILD Act of 2018 (22 

7 U.S.C. 9633) is amended to read as follows: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 1433. MAXIMUM CONTINGENT LIABILITY. 

9 ‘‘The maximum contingent liability of the Corpora10 tion outstanding at any one time shall not exceed in the 

11 aggregate $90,000,000,000.’’. 

12 (g) MODIFICATION OF AGGREGATE LOAN, GUAR13 ANTEE, AND INSURANCE AUTHORITY OF EXPORT IMPORT

14 BANK.—Section 6(a)(2) of the Export-Import Bank Act 

15 of 1945 (12 U.S.C. 635e(a)(2)) is amended by striking 

16 ‘‘2020 through 2027, means $135,000,000,000’’ and in17 serting ‘‘2022 through 2027, means $175,000,000,000’’. 

18 (h) ENERGY PLAN FOR THE AMERICAS.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

21 Chief Energy Officer of the United States Inter22 national Development Finance Corporation (estab23 lished under subsection (j) of section 1413 of the 

24 BUILD Act, as added by subsection (a)(2)), in co25 ordination with the officials specified in paragraph 


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1 (3), shall submit to Congress a comprehensive en2 ergy plan for the Americas. 

3 (2) ELEMENTS.—The plan required by para4 graph (1) shall address the following: 

5 (A) Challenges, limitations, and opportuni6 ties in the Americas for investment in securing 

7 the energy independence of the Western Hemi8 sphere. 

9 (B) Renewable and non-renewable sources 

10 of energy. 

11 (C) A list of major investments required to 

12 carry out the plan. 

13 (D) Energy regulations to be addressed by 

14 the business advisory board established pursu15 ant to section 202. 

16 (E) Impact of the plan on global carbon 

17 emissions and approaches for achieving carbon 

18 neutrality. 

19 (F) Such other information relating to af20 fordable energy independence in the Americas 

21 as the Chief Energy Officer considers appro22 priate. 

23 (3) OFFICIALS SPECIFIED.—The officials speci24 fied in this paragraph are the following: 

25 (A) The Secretary of Commerce. 


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1 (B) The Administrator of the United 

2 States Agency for International Development. 

3 (C) The Secretary of State. 

4 (D) The United States Trade Representa5 tive. 

6 (E) The Director of the Trade and Devel7 opment Agency. 

8 (F) The head of any other agency the 

9 Chief Energy Officer considers appropriate. 

10 Subtitle D—People-to-People 

11 Activities 

12 SEC. 261. HUMANITARIAN AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 

13 ASSISTANCE. 

14 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con15 gress that— 

16 (1) the promotion of human rights and democ17 racy around the world is essential; 

18 (2) such promotion should continue to be incor19 porated into ongoing programs, such as those of the 

20 Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of 

21 the Department of State, the Office of Democracy 

22 and Governance of the United States Agency for 

23 International Development, the National Endowment 

24 for Democracy, the Commercial Law Development 


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1 Program at the Department of Commerce, and other 

2 governmental and nongovernmental entities; 

3 (3) the activities authorized under this subtitle 

4 should remain focused on the objectives of this sub5 title; and 

6 (4) any funds appropriated pursuant to this 

7 subtitle should be expended on such activities. 

8 (b) PURPOSE.—The purposes of this section are— 

9 (1) to deepen the cultural and people-to-people 

10 ties between the people of Americas partner coun11 tries; 

12 (2) to facilitate the establishment of sustainable 

13 market solutions to increase the economic advance14 ment interdependence of the countries in the West15 ern Hemisphere; and 

16 (3) to advance the objectives of this subtitle 

17 through support to businesses, which should remain 

18 focused on those endeavors. 

19 (c) ASSISTANCE AUTHORIZED.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State, in 

21 consultation with the Administrator of the United 

22 States Agency for International Development, the 

23 Director of the United States Trade and Develop24 ment Agency, and the Secretary of Commerce, shall 

25 establish a people-to-people assistance program 


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1 through which individuals in Americas partner coun2 tries may participate in programs funded by the 

3 United States Government. 

4 (2) PROGRAM ELEMENTS.—The programs es5 tablished pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain fo6 cused on achieving the objectives of the Americas 

7 Partnership Threshold Program established under 

8 section 223(a), and may include grants and con9 tracts for— 

10 (A) training programs related to public ad11 ministration, such as the Global Procurement 

12 Initiative of the United States Trade and De13 velopment Agency, and good regulatory prac14 tices and practices of internal governance; 

15 (B) technical assistance related to— 

16 (i) improved service delivery for public 

17 services; 

18 (ii) studies, reports, and other 

19 deliverables needed related to engineering, 

20 construction, maintenance of public or pri21 vate infrastructure; 

22 (iii) feasibility studies related to pri23 vate sector investments; and 


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1 (iv) startup grants, venture capital, 

2 and equity for establishing and growing 

3 businesses; and 

4 (v) other activities to support the 

5 Americas Partnership Threshold Program; 

6 and 

7 (C) other people-to-people assistance au8 thorized by the Secretary of State. 

9 (3) IMPLEMENTATION.—The Secretary of State 

10 is authorized to enter into contracts with for-profit 

11 private sector entities to implement the people-to12 people assistance program authorized under this 

13 subsection. 

14 (d) AMERICAS PARTNERSHIP ACCELERATOR PRO15 GRAM.— 

16 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established 

17 within the United States Agency for International 

18 Development a program to be known as the Amer19 icas Partnership Accelerator Program, which shall 

20 catalyze small and medium industries within Amer21 icas partner countries by providing short-term, tan22 gible successes, which will help people recognize en23 trepreneurs in their communities who are benefiting 

24 from the Americas program. 


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1 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

2 There is authorized to be appropriated, from the Re3 shoring and Near-shoring Account established under 

4 section 301, $15,000,000 to carry out the program 

5 established under paragraph (1). 

6 (e) AMERICAS PARTNERSHIP FUND FOR NATURE.— 

7 (1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in 

8 the Treasury of the United States the Americas 

9 Partnership Fund for Nature, which shall be used 

10 by the United States Agency for International De11 velopment to assist Americas partner countries by 

12 catalyzing activities advancing conservation efforts 

13 through grants, technical assistance, and other tools. 

14 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

15 There is authorized to be appropriated, from the Re16 shoring and Near-shoring Account established under 

17 section 301, $10,000,000 to carry out the activities 

18 described in paragraph (1). 

19 (f) FUNDING.—The Secretary of State may expend 

20 such sums as may be necessary from the Re-shoring and 

21 Near-shoring Account established under section 301 to 

22 carry out this section. 


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1 SEC. 262. DEPARTMENT OF STATE. 

2 (a) CULTURAL AFFAIRS PROGRAMS.—The Secretary 

3 of State may provide Americas partner countries with ad4 ditional cultural affairs programming, including— 

5 (1) additional English language programming; 

6 (2) additional scholarship slots for the J. Wil7 liam Fulbright Educational Exchange Program au8 thorized under the Mutual Educational and Cultural 

9 Exchange Act of 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2451 et seq.); 

10 (3) increased participation in the Fulbright11 Hays Program authorized under section 102 of the 

12 Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 

13 1961 (22 U.S.C. 2452); 

14 (4) additional slots in exchange programs of the 

15 Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs that 

16 benefit outbound American citizens; 

17 (5) additional cultural exchange programs in 

18 music and the arts; 

19 (6) establishing additional ‘‘American Corners’’ 

20 or other outreach mechanisms; and 

21 (7) the appropriation of additional amounts for 

22 the Ambassador’s Special Self-Help Fund authorized 

23 under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (22 

24 U.S.C. 2151 et seq.). 

25 (b) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—The Secretary of State 

26 may build upon existing programs, such as the 100,000 


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1 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund, the College Ho2 rizons Opportunity Program, Young Leaders of the Amer3 icas Initiative, and other programs, as the Secretary 

4 deems appropriate. 

5 (c) FUNDING.—In addition to any other amounts 

6 made available to the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Af7 fairs, the Secretary of State may expend such sums as 

8 may be necessary from the Re-shoring and Near-shoring 

9 Account established under section 301 to carry out this 

10 section. 

11 SEC. 263. PEACE CORPS. 

12 (a) ADDITIONAL VOLUNTEERS IN AMERICAS PART13 NER COUNTRIES.—The Director of the Peace Corps shall 

14 take the necessary steps to double the number of Peace 

15 Corps volunteers in each Americas partner country during 

16 the 27-month period immediately following the date on 

17 which such country enters into a partnership agreement 

18 pursuant to section 201. 

19 (b) ESTABLISHING A PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEERS IN

20 NEW COUNTRIES.—As soon as possible after an Americas 

21 partner country that does not have a Peace Corps pres22 ence enters into a partnership agreement pursuant to sec23 tion 201, the Director of the Peace Corps shall take the 

24 necessary steps to assign Peace Corps volunteers to such 

25 country. 


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1 (c) OFFSETS.—The cost of deploying additional 

2 Peace Corps volunteers to Americas partner countries 

3 under this section shall be paid for— 

4 (1) with offsets from Peace Corps deployments 

5 to other countries; or 

6 (2) from the Re-shoring and Near-shoring Ac7 count established under section 301. 

8 SEC. 264. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY OF THE AMERICAS. 

9 (a) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con10 gress that— 

11 (1) quality university education is essential for 

12 the advancement of free, prosperous societies; 

13 (2) there is not a Latin American university in14 cluded among the top 100 global universities in the 

15 U.S. News and World Report’s 2022–2023 rankings; 

16 (3) there is a significant need for high-quality, 

17 nonideological, affordable university education in 

18 Latin America, especially education that is focused 

19 on science, technology, engineering, and math; and 

20 (4) it is essential to protect intellectual diversity 

21 on college campuses, while not attempting to limit 

22 freedom of speech. 

23 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—During the 2-year period be25 ginning on the date that is 1 year after the date of 


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1 the enactment of this Act, the Administrator of the 

2 United States Agency for International Develop3 ment, in cooperation with American Schools and 

4 Hospitals Abroad, shall establish the American Uni5 versity of the Americas in up to 3 Americas partner 

6 countries selected by the Administrator, in consulta7 tion with the Secretary of Education. 

8 (2) INDEPENDENCE.—The American University 

9 of the Americas— 

10 (A) shall be modeled after similar institu11 tions, such as the American University of Ar12 menia, the American University of Dubai, the 

13 American University of Nigeria, and the Amer14 ican University of Cairo; 

15 (B) shall remain independent of the United 

16 States Government; and 

17 (C) shall be registered as a legal edu18 cational entity in the country in which its head19 quarters is located. 

20 (3) FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SUPPORT.—Not21 withstanding paragraph (2), the United States Gov22 ernment shall support the American University of 

23 the Americas by— 

24 (A) facilitating its founding, including its 

25 registration as a legal educational entity; 


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1 (B) offering assistance with the develop2 ment of academic programs; 

3 (C) providing needed financial assistance; 

4 (D) advising the Center of Excellence for 

5 Combating Corruption established pursuant to 

6 subsection (h); and 

7 (E) retaining a seat on the Board for the 

8 Chief Administrator of the Americas Invest9 ment Corporation. 

10 (4) AUTHORIZED CAMPUSES.— 

11 (A) IN GENERAL.—Of the campuses of the 

12 American University of the Americas authorized 

13 to be established under paragraph (1)— 

14 (i) 1 campus may be established in 

15 Central America; 

16 (ii) 1 campus may be established in 

17 the Caribbean; and 

18 (iii) 1 campus may be established in 

19 the Southern Cone. 

20 (B) JOINT OPERATIONS.—The 3 campuses 

21 established pursuant to subparagraph (A) may 

22 share administrative, legal, and academic re23 sources. 

24 (c) HOST COUNTRY SELECTION.— 


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1 (1) SOLICITATION OF PROPOSALS.—The Ad2 ministrator shall solicit proposals from Americas 

3 partner countries desiring to host the American Uni4 versity of the Americas. 

5 (2) PROPOSAL CONTENTS.—Proposals sub6 mitted pursuant to paragraph (1) shall— 

7 (A) identify the proposed location of the 

8 institution; 

9 (B) evaluate the financial viability of the 

10 institution; 

11 (C) describe the support that the host gov12 ernment is committed to provide to the institu13 tion; 

14 (D) include a sustainability plan for the in15 stitution; 

16 (E) identify possible private-sector, non17 profit, and other partners who have committed 

18 to work with the institution; 

19 (F) identify individuals who have agreed to 

20 serve on the institution’s board of directors, 

21 with letters of commitment; and 

22 (G) identify any local legislation that will 

23 need to be enacted in order to establish the in24 stitution in the host country, along with a plan 

25 to enact such legislation. 


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1 (3) GRANT.— 

2 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator 

3 shall award a grant to each country selected to 

4 host a campus of the American University of 

5 the Americas to provide startup funding. 

6 (B) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—A grant author7 ized under subparagraph (A) may be given to a 

8 university, the ministry of higher education of 

9 the host country, or any other organization that 

10 is capable of facilitating the establishment of a 

11 campus of the American University of the 

12 Americas in accordance with this section. 

13 (4) LEGAL REGISTRATION.—After a country is 

14 selected to host the American University of the 

15 Americas, the Administrator shall formally register 

16 the institution in such country. 

17 (d) ACCREDITATION.— 

18 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 5 years after 

19 the date on which the American University of the 

20 Americas begins operations, the institution shall 

21 seek accreditation with an accrediting agency recog22 nized by the Department of Education in accordance 

23 with subtitle B of title 34, Code of Federal Regula24 tions. 


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1 (2) FOREIGN ACCREDITATION.—The represent2 ative of the United States in the Americas Partner3 ship business advisory board established pursuant to 

4 section 202 shall encourage collaboration with Amer5 icas partner countries to ensure the accreditation of 

6 science, technology, engineering, math, and medicine 

7 degrees with the appropriate education ministries or 

8 departments of Americas partner country govern9 ments. 

10 (e) DEGREES; COURSEWORK.— 

11 (1) STEM AND BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DE12 GREES.—Federal funding for the American Univer13 sity of the Americas may only be used to subsidize 

14 courses leading to a degree in science, technology, 

15 engineering, math, medicine, business development, 

16 or management. Prerequisites may only be allowed 

17 for coursework related to such degrees. 

18 (2) EXCHANGE PROGRAMS; VIRTUAL LEARN19 ING.—The American University of the Americas 

20 shall offer exchange programs and virtual learning 

21 programs. 

22 (3) LANGUAGES.—The languages of instruction 

23 for the American University of the Americas— 

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1 cies, with an effort to assure fully bilingual 

2 graduates; and 

3 (B) shall include the English language. 

4 (f) FUNDING LIMITATION.—The American Univer5 sity of the Americas may not accept any funding from the 

6 Government of the People’s Republic of China, the Gov7 ernment of the Republic of Cuba, the Government of the 

8 Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Government of the 

9 Russian Federation, the Government of the Islamic Re10 public of Iran, or any individual or institution working on 

11 behalf of any such government. If any funding is accepted 

12 by the American University of the Americas in violation 

13 of this subsection, the relationship between the United 

14 States and the institution shall be immediately termi15 nated. 

16 (g) CENTERS OF EXCELLENCE.—The American Uni17 versity of the Americas shall include a Center of Excel18 lence for Combating Corruption, Human, and Other Traf19 ficking and Organized Crime that carries out research and 

20 pubic education related to corruption, money laundering 

21 (including trade-based money laundering), human traf22 ficking, drug trafficking, and other related criminal activi23 ties in Americas partner countries and throughout the 

24 Americas. 


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1 (h) FUNDING.—The Secretary of State may expend 

2 such sums as may be necessary from the Re-shoring and 

3 Near-shoring Account established under section 301 to 

4 carry out this section. 

5 SEC. 265. UNITED STATES AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL 

6 DEVELOPMENT CARIBBEAN AND LATIN 

7 AMERICAN SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM III. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator of the United 

9 States Agency for International Development shall estab10 lish a scholarship program, which be known as the Carib11 bean and Latin American Scholarship Program III— 

12 (1) shall be modeled after the second phase of 

13 the Caribbean and Latin American Scholarship Pro14 gram (commonly known as CLASP–II); 

15 (2) shall offer full ride scholarships (including 

16 tuition, fees, and reasonable accommodations) to 

17 qualifying students in partner countries; 

18 (3) shall offer bachelor’s and master’s degrees 

19 in science, technology, engineering, math, and the 

20 English language; and 

21 (4) shall require students— 

22 (A) to study outside of their respective 

23 countries of citizenship; and 


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1 (B) to commit to return to their respective 

2 countries of origin following the completion of 

3 their studies. 

4 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

5 authorized to be appropriated, from the Re-shoring and 

6 Near-shoring Account established under section 301, 

7 $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and each successive fis8 cal year to carry out the scholarship program authorized 

9 under subsection (a) in Americas partner countries. 

10 SEC. 266. CONCERN FOR ADVANCED RETIRED AND ELDER11 LY NONIMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM FOR 

12 ALIENS WHO PROVIDE DIRECT CARE FOR EL13 DERLY POPULATIONS. 

14 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following find15 ings: 

16 (1) In 2015, there were an estimated 

17 47,800,000 individuals in the United States who 

18 were 65 years of age or older, and by 2030, it is ex19 pected that there will be nearly 73,000,000 individ20 uals in the United States who are 65 years of age 

or older, which is approximately 1 21 ⁄5 of the popu22 lation. 

23 (2) In 2020— 

24 (A) 45 percent of individuals caring for an 

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1 perienced financial hardship as a result of such 

2 caregiving, of whom 28 percent stopped saving 

3 and 22 percent exhausted their personal short4 term savings; 

5 (B) 15 percent of United States workers 

6 transitioned from full-time employment to part7 time employment due to the need to provide 

8 care for an elderly family member; 

9 (C) 6 percent of United States workers left 

10 the workforce entirely to care for an elderly 

11 loved one; and 

12 (D) 27 percent of United States workers 

13 reported finding affordable elder care services 

14 very difficult, and 33 percent of such workers 

15 reported finding such services moderately dif16 ficult. 

17 (3) If working family caregivers aged 50 years 

18 and older are provided the support they need to care 

19 for their loved ones, the gross domestic product of 

20 the United States could grow by an additional 

21 $1,700,000,000,000 by 2030. 

22 (4) In the United States, nursing assistants 

23 and home health aides— 

24 (A) comprise the largest group of workers 

25 in the long-term care workforce; and 


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1 (B) are among the 10 occupations experi2 encing the highest levels of job growth. 

3 (5) In 2014, there were approximately 

4 1,220,000 nursing assistants and 704,500 home 

5 health aides in the United States. 

6 (6) The need for workers providing direct care 

7 for elderly populations is expected to grow by 34 

8 percent by 2030, which is significantly higher than 

9 the capacity of United States workers to fill the 

10 need. 

11 (b) SENSE OF CONGRESS.—It is the sense of Con12 gress that— 

13 (1) the increasing care needs of the elderly pop14 ulation of the United States is of increasing signifi15 cance, both in terms of cost and time, as United 

16 States family size decreases and the overall popu17 lation ages; and 

18 (2) the establishment of a nonimmigrant visa 

19 category to increase the availability of caregivers and 

20 lower the cost of caring for the elderly will allow the 

21 family members of the elderly, particularly women 

22 and single heads of household who historically have 

23 taken a greater role in caring for elderly parents, to 

24 continuing working rather than taking on a 

25 caregiving role. 


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1 (c) CONCERN FOR ADVANCED RETIRED AND ELDER2 LY NONIMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM.— 

3 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 101(a)(15) of the 

4 Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

5 1101(a)(15)) is amended— 

6 (A) in subparagraph (T)(ii)(III), by strik7 ing the period at the end and inserting a semi8 colon; 

9 (B) in subparagraph (U)(iii), by striking 

10 ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

11 (C) in subparagraph (V)(ii)(II), by striking 

12 the period at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

13 (D) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(W) subject to section 214(s), an alien who 

15 seeks admission to the United States temporarily for 

16 the purpose of providing direct care, as a nursing 

17 assistant, a home health aide, a personal care aide, 

18 a psychiatric assistant or aide, a mobility assistant, 

19 or a child care provider, for 1 or more individuals 

20 who are— 

21 ‘‘(i) retired or elderly; 

22 ‘‘(ii) receiving— 

23 ‘‘(I) disability insurance benefits 

24 under section 223 of the Social Security 

25 Act (42 U.S.C. 423) or monthly insurance 


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1 benefits under section 202 of such Act (42 

2 U.S.C. 402) based on such individuals’ dis3 ability; or 

4 ‘‘(II) supplemental security income 

5 benefits under title XVI of the Social Secu6 rity Act (42 U.S.C. 1381 et seq.) on the 

7 basis of blindness or disability; or 

8 ‘‘(iii) too young to be eligible for a free 

9 public education (as defined in section 8101 of 

10 the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (20 

11 U.S.C. 7801) in the State or territory in which 

12 such individuals are residing.’’. 

13 (2) REQUIREMENTS APPLICABLE TO THE CON14 CERN FOR ADVANCED RETIRED AND ELDERLY NON15 IMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM.—Section 214 of the Im16 migration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1184) is 

17 amended by adding at the end the following: 

18 ‘‘(s) CONCERN FOR ADVANCED RETIRED AND EL19 DERLY (CARE) NONIMMIGRANT VISA PROGRAM.— 

20 ‘‘(1) DEFINED TERM.—The term ‘CARE visa’ 

21 means a visa issued to an alien described in section 

22 101(a)(15)(W) in accordance with the requirements 

23 under this section. 

24 ‘‘(2) SELECTION OF APPLICANTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

2 State, in coordination with the Attorney Gen3 eral, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the 

4 Secretary of Labor, and the Secretary of Health 

5 and Human Services, shall work with the Amer6 icas partner country (as defined in section 2 of 

7 the Americas Act) to identify, vet, train, and 

8 certify applicants for CARE visas. 

9 ‘‘(B) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

10 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

11 State, in coordination with the Americas 

12 partner country and private entities, shall 

13 establish a process by which an alien may 

14 apply to be considered for a CARE visa. 

15 ‘‘(ii) CERTIFICATION REQUIRED.— 

16 ‘‘(I) IN GENERAL.—The Sec17 retary of State may not approve an 

18 application for a CARE visa unless 

19 the alien has first applied to the Sec20 retary of Labor for, and obtained, a 

21 certification that— 

22 ‘‘(aa) there are not suffi23 cient workers who are able, will24 ing, and qualified, and who will 

25 be available at the time and place 


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1 needed, to perform the labor or 

2 services involved in the applica3 tion; and 

4 ‘‘(bb) the employment of the 

5 alien in such labor or services 

6 will not adversely affect the 

7 wages and working conditions of 

8 workers in the United States 

9 similarly employed. 

10 ‘‘(II) FEES.—The Secretary of 

11 Labor may require, by regulation, as 

12 a condition of issuing a certification 

13 under clause (i), the payment of a fee 

14 to recover the reasonable costs of 

15 processing applications for certifi16 cation. 

17 ‘‘(C) TRAINING.—With respect to each 

18 alien selected to apply for a CARE visa, the 

19 Secretary of State shall coordinate with the 

20 Secretary of Labor and the applicable Americas 

21 partner country to provide training on direct 

22 care of individuals described in section 

23 101(a)(15)(W)— 

24 ‘‘(i) in the primary language of the 

25 Americas partner country, as applicable; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) with respect to the direct care of 

2 retired or elderly individuals, in accordance 

3 with the standards applicable to a nurse 

4 aide training and competency evaluation 

5 program under sections 483.152 and 

6 483.154 of title 42, Code of Federal Regu7 lations (or successor regulations); and 

8 ‘‘(iii) for the purpose of serving tem9 porarily as a nursing assistant, home 

10 health aide, personal care aide, psychiatric 

11 assistant, mobility assistant, or child care 

12 provider in the United States. 

13 ‘‘(D) COMPETENCY EVALUATION AND CER14 TIFICATION.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—On completion of 

16 the training provided under subparagraph 

17 (B), an alien seeking a CARE visa for the 

18 purpose of providing direct care for an 

19 alien described in section 101(a)(15)(W)(i) 

20 shall be evaluated for competency in ac21 cordance with the standards applicable to a 

22 nurse aide training and competency evalua23 tion program under sections 483.152 and 

24 483.154 of title 42, Code of Federal Regu25 lations (or successor regulations). 


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1 ‘‘(ii) CERTIFICATION.—If the Sec2 retary of State makes a determination that 

3 an individual described in clause (i) has at4 tained competency in accordance with the 

5 standards referred to in such clause, the 

6 Secretary may certify such individual for a 

7 CARE visa. 

8 ‘‘(E) NUMERICAL LIMITATION.—Not more 

9 than 50,000 CARE visas may be issued annu10 ally under this subsection. 

11 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITIONS.—The Secretary of State 

12 may not issue a CARE visa to any individual who— 

13 ‘‘(A) has not been certified under para14 graph (2)(C)(ii) (unless such individual will 

15 only be providing direct care to an individual 

16 described in clause (ii) or (iii) of section 

17 101(a)(15)(W)); or 

18 ‘‘(B) has not completed security and law 

19 enforcement background checks to the satisfac20 tion of the Secretary of Homeland Security. 

21 ‘‘(4) ENGLISH LANGUAGE NOT REQUIRED.— 

22 The issuance of a CARE visa or the admission of an 

23 alien to the United States pursuant to a CARE visa 

24 may not be conditioned on English-language com25 petency. 


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1 ‘‘(5) PERIOD OF AUTHORIZED ADMISSION.— 

2 The period of authorized admission for a non3 immigrant described in section 101(a)(15)(W) who 

4 has been issued a CARE visa shall be not more than 

5 7 years and may not be renewed or extended for any 

6 reason.’’. 

7 (3) PROTECTIONS FOR VICTIMS OF TRAF8 FICKING.—Section 203 of the William Wilberforce 

9 Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act 

10 of 2008 (8 U.S.C. 1375c) is amended— 

11 (A) in the section heading, by striking 

12 ‘‘AND G–5’’ and inserting ‘‘, G–5, AND CARE’’; 

13 (B) in subsection (a)— 

14 (i) in the subsection heading, by strik15 ing ‘‘AND G–5’’ and inserting ‘‘, G–5, AND

16 CARE’’; and 

17 (ii) in paragraph (1)— 

18 (I) in subparagraph (A)— 

19 (aa) by striking ‘‘subsection 

20 (d)(2)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsection 

21 (b)(2)’’; and 

22 (bb) by striking ‘‘; or’’ and 

23 inserting a semicolon; 


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1 (II) in subparagraph (B), by 

2 striking the period at the end and in3 serting ‘‘; and’’; and 

4 (III) by adding at the end the 

5 following: 

6 ‘‘(C) a CARE visa unless the applicant is 

7 employed, or has signed a contract to be em8 ployed to provide direct care, as a nursing as9 sistant, a home health aide, a personal care 

10 aide, a psychiatric assistant or aide, a mobility 

11 assistant, or a child care for individual de12 scribed in section 101(a)(15)(W) of the Immi13 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

14 1101(a)(15)(W)).’’; 

15 (C) in subsection (b)— 

16 (i) in the subsection heading— 

17 (I) by striking ‘‘AND G–5’’ and 

18 inserting ‘‘, G–5, AND CARE’’; and 

19 (II) by striking ‘‘EMPLOYED BY

20 DIPLOMATS AND STAFF OF INTER21 NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS’’; 

22 (ii) in paragraph (1), in the matter 

23 preceding subparagraph (A), by striking 

24 ‘‘or a G–5 visa’’ and inserting ‘‘, a G–5 

25 visa, or a CARE visa’’; and 


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1 (iii) in paragraph (4)(A), by striking 

2 ‘‘or a G–5 visa’’ and inserting ‘‘, a G–5 

3 visa, or a CARE visa’’; 

4 (D) in subsection (c)(1)— 

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

6 ‘‘or a G–5 visa’’ and inserting ‘‘, a G–5 

7 visa, or a CARE visa’’; and 

8 (ii) in subparagraph (C)— 

9 (I) by striking ‘‘or a G–5 visa’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘, a G–5 visa, or a 

11 CARE visa’’; and 

12 (II) by striking ‘‘or G–5 non13 immigrant’’ and inserting ‘‘, G–5, or 

14 CARE nonimmigrant’’; 

15 (E) in subsection (e), by striking ‘‘or a G– 

16 5 visa’’ and inserting ‘‘, a G–5 visa, or a CARE 

17 visa’’; and 

18 (F) in subsection (f), by adding at the end 

19 the following: 

20 ‘‘(5) CARE VISA.—The term ‘CARE visa’ 

21 means a nonimmigrant visa issued pursuant to sub22 paragraph (W) of section 101(a)(15) of the Immi23 gration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 

24 1101(a)(15)).’’. 


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1 (d) AUTHORIZATION TO HIRE ADDITIONAL EMBASSY

2 PERSONNEL.—The Secretary of State may increase the 

3 number of foreign service officers stationed at United 

4 States embassies in order to ensure the efficient adjudica5 tion of visa applications associated with the Concern for 

6 Advanced Retired and Elderly nonimmigrant visa pro7 gram. 

8 SEC. 267. SENSE OF CONGRESS ON TN VISA PROGRAM. 

9 It is the sense of Congress that the President should 

10 incorporate into the periodic review of the USMCA for 

11 2026 a discussion of the establishment of a TN visa cat12 egory for low-skill workers. 

13 SEC. 268. ASSESSMENT OF VISA WAIVER PROGRAM ELIGI14 BILITY FOR URUGUAY AND COSTA RICA. 

15 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact16 ment of this Act, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in 

17 consultation with the Secretary of State, shall submit to 

18 Congress a report that includes— 

19 (1) an assessment as to whether Uruguay meets 

20 the eligibility criteria for designation as a program 

21 country for purposes of the visa waiver program 

22 under section 217 of the Immigration and Nation23 ality Act (8 U.S.C. 1187); 

24 (2) an assessment as to whether Costa Rica 

25 meets such eligibility criteria; and 


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1 (3) in the case of an assessment that Uruguay 

2 or Costa Rica does not meet such eligibility criteria, 

3 a description of the actions required of such country 

4 in order to meet such criteria. 

5 SEC. 269. RADIO FREE AMERICAS. 

6 (a) AUTHORITY.—The Secretary of State, the Admin7 istrator of the United States Agency for International De8 velopment, the Secretary of Commerce, or the head of any 

9 other relevant Federal department may award annual 

10 grants to a country in Latin America or the Caribbean 

11 for the purpose of carrying out a broadcasting service, 

12 which— 

13 (1) shall be known as ‘‘Radio Free Americas’’; 

14 (2) shall consist of radio, television, social 

15 media, and other public communications efforts; and 

16 (3) may not result in any curtailment of the on17 going work of Radio Martı ́. 

18 (b) FUNCTIONS.—Radio Free Americas shall— 

19 (1) provide accurate and timely information, 

20 news, and commentary about events in the Americas 

21 and in other places around the world; and 

22 (2) be a forum for a variety of opinions and 

23 voices from within nations in the Western Hemi24 sphere whose people do not fully enjoy freedom of 

25 expression. 


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1 (c) GRANT AGREEMENT.— 

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—Any grant awarded under 

3 this section shall be subject to the limitations and 

4 restrictions set forth in paragraphs (2) through (5). 

5 (2) LOCATION OF HEADQUARTERS.—No grant 

6 may be awarded under this section unless the head7 quarters of Radio Free Americas and its senior ad8 ministrative and managerial staff are in a location 

9 that ensures economy, operational effectiveness, and 

10 accountability to the United States Government. 

11 (3) OBLIGATIONS.—Any agreement governing a 

12 grant awarded under this section shall require that 

13 any contract entered into by the grantee on behalf 

14 of Radio Free Americas specifies that all obligations 

15 related to the functions described in subsection (b) 

16 be assumed by Radio Free Americas and not by the 

17 United States Government. 

18 (4) LEASE AGREEMENTS.—Any such grant 

19 agreement shall require that any lease agreements 

20 entered into by the grantee on behalf of Radio Free 

21 Americas be assignable to the United States Govern22 ment, to the maximum extent possible. 

23 (5) LIMITATION ON ACTIVITIES; TERMI24 NATIONS.—Grants awarded under this section shall 

25 be made pursuant to a grant agreement— 


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1 (A) requiring that grant funds be used 

2 only for activities in accordance with this sec3 tion; and 

4 (B) specifying that failure to comply with 

5 the requirements under this section authorizes 

6 the termination of the agreement without fiscal 

7 obligation to the United States. 

8 (d) SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING ADMINISTRA9 TIVE AND MANAGERIAL COSTS.—It is the sense of Con10 gress that administrative and managerial costs for the op11 eration of Radio Free Americas— 

12 (1) should be kept to a minimum; and 

13 (2) should not exceed the costs that would have 

14 been incurred if Radio Free Americas had been op15 erated as a Federal entity rather than through a 

16 grantee. 

17 (e) ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RADIO

18 FREE AMERICAS.—Not later than 3 years after the date 

19 on which initial funding is provided for the purpose of op20 erating Radio Free Americas, the Secretary of State shall 

21 submit a report to the appropriate congressional commit22 tees regarding— 

23 (1) whether Radio Free Americas— 

24 (A) is technically sound and cost-effective; 


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1 (B) consistently meets the standards for 

2 quality and objectivity established under this 

3 section; and 

4 (C) is received by a sufficient audience to 

5 warrant its continued operations; 

6 (2) the extent to which the information, news, 

7 and commentary provided by Radio Free Americas 

8 is also being received by the target audience from 

9 other credible sources; and 

10 (3) the extent to which the interests of the 

11 United States are being served by maintaining the 

12 operations of Radio Free Americas. 

13 (f) NOTIFICATION AND CONSULTATION REGARDING

14 DISPLACEMENT OF VOICE OF AMERICA BROAD15 CASTING.—The Chief Executive Officer of the United 

16 States Agency for Global Media shall notify the appro17 priate congressional committees before— 

18 (1) entering into any agreement for the utiliza19 tion of Voice of America transmitters, equipment, or 

20 other resources that will significantly reduce the 

21 broadcasting activities of the Voice of America in the 

22 Americas or in any other region in order to accom23 modate the broadcasting activities of Radio Free 

24 Americas; or 


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1 (2) entering into any agreements in regard to 

2 the utilization of Radio Free Americas transmitters, 

3 equipment, or other resources that will significantly 

4 reduce the broadcasting activities of Radio Free 

5 Americas. 

6 (g) ALTERNATIVE GRANTEE.—If the Chief Executive 

7 Officer of the United States Agency for Global Media de8 termines that Radio Free Americas is not carrying out the 

9 functions described in subsection (b) in an effective and 

10 economical manner, the Chief Executive Officer may 

11 award the grant to carry out such functions to another 

12 entity. 

13 (h) FEDERAL STATUS.—Nothing in this section may 

14 be construed to make Radio Free Americas a Federal 

15 agency or instrumentality. 

16 (i) FUNDING.—The Secretary of State may expend 

17 such sums as may be necessary from the Re-shoring and 

18 Near-shoring Account established under section 301 to 

19 carry out this section. 

20 SEC. 270. BIENNIAL PRESIDENTIAL SUMMIT. 

21 Not less frequently than biennially, the President, in 

22 consultation with the Secretary of State, shall host a sum23 mit for Americas partner countries during which such 

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1 ments, endeavors, and programs associated with activities 

2 authorized under this Act. 

3 TITLE III—REVENUE AND 

4 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT 

5 SEC. 301. RE-SHORING AND NEAR-SHORING ACCOUNT. 

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established within the 

7 Treasury of the United States an account to be known 

8 as the ‘‘Re-shoring and Near-shoring Account’’ (in this 

9 section referred to as the ‘‘Account’’), consisting of such 

10 amounts as are— 

11 (1) appropriated pursuant to the authorization 

12 of appropriations under subsection (c); 

13 (2) deposited into or transferred to the Account 

14 as specified in title II or subsection (c) of section 

15 321 of Tariff Act of 1930, as added by section 302; 

16 and 

17 (3) credited to the Account under subsection 

18 (d). 

19 (b) USE OF AMOUNTS.—Amounts in the Account 

20 shall be available, without further appropriation, to carry 

21 out titles I and II. 

22 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

24 appropriated $500,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 for 

25 initial capitalization of the Account. 


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1 (2) REIMBURSEMENT OF TREASURY.—Not later 

2 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of this 

3 Act, the Account shall reimburse the treasury for 

4 the amount appropriated pursuant to the authoriza5 tion of appropriations under paragraph (1). 

6 (d) INVESTMENT OF AMOUNTS.— 

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para8 graph (2), the Secretary of the Treasury shall invest 

9 such portion of the Account as is not required to 

10 meet current withdrawals in interest-bearing obliga11 tions of the United States or in obligations guaran12 teed as to both principal and interest by the United 

13 States. 

14 (2) AUTHORIZATION OF INVESTMENT IN OTHER

15 INSTRUMENTS.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the 

17 Treasury may invest such portion of the Ac18 count as the Secretary anticipates will be held 

19 in the Account for not less than 2 years in eq20 uity securities or other securities through a 

21 commercial bank if the Secretary determines 

22 such investments are appropriate. 

23 (B) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph, the 

24 terms ‘‘equity security’’ and ‘‘security’’ have the 

25 meanings given those terms in section 3(a) of 


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1 the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 

2 U.S.C. 78c(a)). 

3 (3) INTEREST AND PROCEEDS.—The interest 

4 on, and the proceeds from the sale or redemption of, 

5 any obligations held in the Account shall be credited 

6 to and form a part of the Account. 

7 SEC. 302. MODIFICATION OF TREATMENT OF DE MINIMIS 

8 ENTRIES OF ARTICLES. 

9 Section 321 of Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1321) 

10 is amended— 

11 (1) by amending subsection (a)(2)(C) to read as 

12 follows: 

13 ‘‘(C) in any other case, such amount as the 

14 Secretary establishes under subsection (c)(1).’’; 

15 and 

16 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘(c) TREATMENT OF DE MINIMIS ENTRIES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) RECIPROCITY WITH RESPECT TO DE MINI19 MIS ENTRIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF THRESHOLDS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

22 180 days after the date of the enactment 

23 of the Americas Act, the Secretary of the 

24 Treasury shall prescribe regulations to es25 tablish dollar amount thresholds, which 


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1 may not exceed $800, for de minimis en2 tries for purposes of subsection (a)(2)(C). 

3 ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary 

4 shall establish a threshold under clause (i) 

5 for each country that is equal to the sum 

6 of— 

7 ‘‘(I) the dollar amount threshold 

8 of that country for de minimis entries 

9 from the United States; and 

10 ‘‘(II) any related thresholds of 

11 that country, such as a threshold re12 lating to a value-added tax on im13 ports. 

14 ‘‘(iii) PUBLICATION; NOTIFICATION.— 

15 Not later than 180 days after the date of 

16 the enactment of the Americas Act, and 

17 annually thereafter, the Secretary shall— 

18 ‘‘(I) publish the threshold estab19 lished under clause (i) in the Federal 

20 Register; and 

21 ‘‘(II) notify the governments of 

22 foreign countries of the threshold. 

23 ‘‘(B) TRANSFER OF AMOUNTS ATTRIB24 UTABLE TO DE MINIMIS ENTRIES TO RE-SHOR25 ING AND NEAR-SHORING ACCOUNT.— 


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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of 

2 the Treasury shall transfer to the Re-shor3 ing and Near-shoring Account established 

4 under section 301 of the Americas Act 

5 from the general fund of the Treasury, for 

6 fiscal year 2024 and each fiscal year there7 after, an amount equivalent to the amount 

8 received into the general fund during that 

9 fiscal year that the Secretary determines is 

10 attributable to revenue received as a result 

11 of the dollar amount thresholds established 

12 under subparagraph (A). 

13 ‘‘(ii) FREQUENCY OF TRANSFERS.— 

14 The Secretary shall transfer amounts re15 quired by clause (i) to be transferred to 

16 the Re-shoring and Near-shoring Account 

17 not less frequently than quarterly. 

18 ‘‘(2) PROHIBITION ON DE MINIMIS ENTRIES

19 FROM CERTAIN COUNTRIES.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one 

21 year after the date of the enactment of the 

22 Americas Act, and annually thereafter, the Sec23 retary of the Treasury shall publish a list of 

24 countries the articles of which are not eligible 

25 for entry under subsection (a)(2)(C). 


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1 ‘‘(B) CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION.— 

2 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 

3 180 days after the date of the enactment 

4 of the Americas Act, the Secretary shall 

5 establish, and submit to Congress a report 

6 on, the conditions for including a country 

7 on the list required by subparagraph (A). 

8 ‘‘(ii) CONSIDERATIONS.—In estab9 lishing under clause (i) conditions for in10 cluding a country on the list required by 

11 subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall con12 sider the following: 

13 ‘‘(I) Violations by the country of 

14 the Act entitled ‘An Act to ensure 

15 that goods made with forced labor in 

16 the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of 

17 the People’s Republic of China do not 

18 enter the United States market, and 

19 for other purposes’, approved Decem20 ber 23, 2021 (Public Law 117–78; 

21 135 Stat. 1525) (commonly referred 

22 to as the ‘Uyghur Forced Labor Pre23 vention Act’). 


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1 ‘‘(II) Transshipment through the 

2 country of goods from countries on 

3 the list. 

4 ‘‘(III) The exportation from the 

5 country of counterfeit goods. 

6 ‘‘(IV) Whether the government of 

7 the country is committed to the fight 

8 against trafficking in persons, illegal 

9 narcotics, and terrorism, as dem10 onstrated by— 

11 ‘‘(aa) the government of the 

12 country not being listed under 

13 subparagraph (C) of section 

14 110(b)(1) of the Trafficking Vic15 tims Protection Act of 2000 (22 

16 U.S.C. 7107(b)(1)) (commonly 

17 referred to as ‘tier 3’) in the 

18 most recent report on trafficking 

19 in persons required under such 

20 section (commonly referred to as 

21 the ‘Trafficking in Persons Re22 port’); and 

23 ‘‘(bb) certification by the 

24 Department of State that the 

25 government is participating in 


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1 the fight against illegal narcotics 

2 and terrorism. 

3 ‘‘(V) Harm to industry in the 

4 United States. 

5 ‘‘(VI) Public safety risks posed 

6 by imports from the country to United 

7 States consumers. 

8 ‘‘(VII) The flow of narcotics from 

9 the country into the United States. 

10 ‘‘(VIII) Such other issues as the 

11 Secretary considers appropriate. 

12 ‘‘(C) COUNTRIES REQUIRED TO BE IN13 CLUDED.— 

14 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The following 

15 countries shall be included on the list re16 quired by subparagraph (A), effective on 

17 the date of the enactment of the Americas 

18 Act: 

19 ‘‘(I) The People’s Republic of 

20 China. 

21 ‘‘(II) The Russian Federation. 

22 ‘‘(ii) REMOVAL FROM LIST.—A coun23 try specified in clause (i) may not be re24 moved from the list required by subpara25 graph (A) until the Secretary certifies to 


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1 Congress that the government of the coun2 try has made progress with respect to the 

3 considerations described in subparagraph 

4 (B)(ii). 

5 ‘‘(D) REMOVAL.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The government 

7 of a country on the list required by sub8 paragraph (A) may petition the Secretary 

9 for removal from the list. 

10 ‘‘(ii) RESPONSE TIME.—The Secretary 

11 shall— 

12 ‘‘(I) respond to a petition sub13 mitted under clause (i) not later than 

14 90 days after receiving the petition; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(II) include in that response a 

17 description of any measures the gov18 ernment that submitted the petition is 

19 required to undertake to be removed 

20 from the list. 

21 ‘‘(E) CONSULTATIONS WITH CONGRESS.— 

22 The Secretary shall consult with Congress be23 fore adding a country to or removing a country 

24 from the list required by subparagraph (A). 


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1 ‘‘(3) LIMITATIONS ON ELIGIBILITY OF CAR2 RIERS FOR IMPORTATION OF DE MINIMIS EN3 TRIES.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—An article is eligible 

5 for entry under subsection (a)(2)(C) only if the 

6 article is transported to the United States by a 

7 contract carrier or customs broker. 

8 ‘‘(B) DATA REQUIREMENTS.—A contract 

9 carrier or customs broker seeking to enter an 

10 article under subsection (a)(2)(C) shall provide 

11 the following data with respect to the article: 

12 ‘‘(i) The heading or subheading of the 

13 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 

14 States under which the article is classifi15 able. 

16 ‘‘(ii) The country of origin of the arti17 cle. 

18 ‘‘(iii) The country of manufacture of 

19 the article (if different from the country of 

20 origin under clause (ii)). 

21 ‘‘(iv) The shipper of record. 

22 ‘‘(v) The importer of record. 

23 ‘‘(vi) A description of the article. 

24 ‘‘(vii) The fair market value in the 

25 United States of the article. 


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1 ‘‘(C) COLLECTION OF DUTIES AND

2 TAXES.—A contract carrier or customs broker 

3 transporting articles entering under subsection 

4 (a)(2)(C) shall be responsible for collecting the 

5 duties and taxes owed with respect to such arti6 cles and remitting those duties and taxes to 

7 U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

8 ‘‘(D) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

9 ‘‘(i) CONTRACT CARRIER.—The term 

10 ‘contract carrier’ means a private entity 

11 that— 

12 ‘‘(I) is organized under the laws 

13 of the United States or any jurisdic14 tion within the United States; and 

15 ‘‘(II) ships small packages into 

16 the United States by air or land. 

17 ‘‘(ii) CUSTOMS BROKER.—The term 

18 ‘customs broker’ means a person holding a 

19 valid customs broker’s license issued under 

20 section 641(b) of the Tariff Act of 1930 

21 (19 U.S.C. 1641(b)). 

22 ‘‘(4) DE MINIMIS ENTRY DEFINED.—In this 

23 subsection, the term ‘de minimis entry’ means the 

24 entry of articles imported by one person on one day 

25 with a fair retail value that does not exceed— 


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1 ‘‘(A) in the case of articles entering the 

2 United States, the applicable threshold estab3 lished under paragraph (1)(A); and 

4 ‘‘(B) in the case of articles entering any 

5 other country, an amount determined by the 

6 government of that country to be de minimis.’’. 

7 TITLE IV—REPORTING AND 

8 BRANDING 

9 SEC. 401. ANNUAL REPORT ON AMERICAS PROGRAM. 

10 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31 of 

11 each year that begins after the date of the enactment of 

12 this Act, the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with 

13 the officials specified in subsection (b), shall submit to the 

14 Committee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee 

15 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives a 

16 report on activities carried out under the Americas pro17 gram during the preceding fiscal year. 

18 (b) OFFICIALS SPECIFIED.—The officials specified in 

19 this subsection are the following: 

20 (1) The Administrator of the United States 

21 Agency for International Development. 

22 (2) The United States Trade Representative. 

23 (3) The Secretary of State. 

24 (4) The Secretary of Homeland Security. 


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1 (5) Such other officials as the Secretary of 

2 Commerce considers appropriate. 

3 (c) ASSESSMENT OF ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED IN

4 PRECEDING YEAR.—Each report required by subsection 

5 (a) shall include the following for the fiscal year covered 

6 by the report: 

7 (1) A statement of the number of Americas 

8 partner countries. 

9 (2) An assessment of the effectiveness of loans 

10 and other incentives provided under section 212 with 

11 respect to re-shoring and near-shoring that includes 

12 an estimate of— 

13 (A) the number of entities re-shored or 

14 near-shored; and 

15 (B) the number of jobs created in the 

16 United States and Americas partner countries 

17 as a result of such re-shoring and near-shoring. 

18 (3) An assessment of the status of negotiations 

19 for the expansion of the USMCA under section 222 

20 that includes— 

21 (A) an identification of the countries par22 ticipating in those negotiations; 

23 (B) an estimate of the amount of trade be24 tween those countries and the United States; 

25 and 


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1 (C) an identification of any significant 

2 challenges relating to those negotiations. 

3 (4) An assessment of the status of negotiations 

4 for the expansion of countries that are CBTPA ben5 eficiary countries (as defined in section 213(b)(5) of 

6 the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act (19 

7 U.S.C. 2703(b)), as amended by section 224) that 

8 includes— 

9 (A) an identification of the countries par10 ticipating in those negotiations; 

11 (B) an estimate of the amount of trade be12 tween those countries and the United States; 

13 and 

14 (C) an identification of any significant 

15 challenges relating to those negotiations. 

16 (5) An assessment of the activities of the 

17 BUILD Americas Unit that includes— 

18 (A) a description of the financial instru19 ments used under section 252 and the amounts 

20 issued under such instruments; 

21 (B) an assessment of the repayment rates; 

22 (C) a copy of each grant, loan, guaranty, 

23 or insurance agreement; 


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1 (D) a list of projects carried out using 

2 such grants, loans, guaranties, or insurance; 

3 and 

4 (E) a statement of the amount expended 

5 by the Corporation and the amount provided to 

6 the Re-shoring and Near-shoring Account es7 tablished under section 301. 

8 (6) An assessment of the activities of the Amer9 icas Partnership Enterprise Fund established under 

10 section 253 that includes— 

11 (A) an identification of the country in 

12 which the Fund is registered; 

13 (B) a copy of the registration documents 

14 for the Fund; 

15 (C) a description of the grants, loans, and 

16 technical assistance provided by the Fund; and 

17 (D) an assessment of the repayment rate 

18 of loans provided by the Fund. 

19 (7) An assessment of activities carried out 

20 under section 254 relating to near-shoring of stra21 tegic supply chains. 

22 (8) An assessment of activities carried out by 

23 the Office of Energy of the Export-Import Bank of 

24 the United States established under section 


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1 2(b)(1)(C) of the Export-Import Bank Act of 1945, 

2 as amended by section 255(b). 

3 (9) An assessment of activities carried out by 

4 the United States International Development Fi5 nance Corporation under title II, including activities 

6 of the Chief Energy Officer of the United States 

7 International Development Finance Corporation es8 tablished under subsection (j) of section 1413 of the 

9 BUILD Act, as added by section 255(a). 

10 (10) An assessment of humanitarian and busi11 ness development assistance provided under section 

12 261 that includes— 

13 (A) a list of the recipients of such assist14 ance; and 

15 (B) a description of the assistance pro16 vided. 

17 (11) A description of the cultural affairs pro18 gramming provided under section 262. 

19 (12) An assessment of efforts conducted under 

20 section 263 to increase the number of Peace Corps 

21 volunteers in Americas partner countries that in22 cludes an identification of the number of such volun23 teers and the countries to which such volunteers are 

24 assigned. 


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1 (13) An assessment of activities carried out 

2 under section 264 relating to the American Univer3 sity of the Americas that includes— 

4 (A) a list of campus locations; 

5 (B) the number of students attending each 

6 such campus; and 

7 (C) a list of degrees offered by the univer8 sity. 

9 (14) An assessment of the programming pro10 vided by the United States Agency for Global Media 

11 under section 269 that includes— 

12 (A) a list of programs provided; and 

13 (B) an assessment of the number and loca14 tions of listeners to such programs. 

15 (15) If a summit was conducted under section 

16 270 in the year preceding the submission of the re17 port— 

18 (A) an assessment of the success of the 

19 summit; 

20 (B) the location of the summit; and 

21 (C) an identification of the attendees of 

22 the summit. 

23 (d) FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS FOR UPCOMING

24 YEAR.—Each report required by subsection (a) shall in25 clude a projection of the amount of funds required for the 


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1 fiscal year that begins after submission of the report, 

2 disaggregated by agency and purpose. 

3 SEC. 402. BRANDING AND MARKETING FOR AMERICAS PRO4 GRAM. 

5 Branding and marketing for the Americas program 

6 shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the Visibly 

7 American branding policies of the Department of State. 

Æ 


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