II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3978 

To require the United States Trade Representative to submit a report on 

plans to facilitate the full implementation of agreements of the World 

Trade Organization, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 17, 2020 

Mrs. LOEFFLER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 

referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To require the United States Trade Representative to submit 

a report on plans to facilitate the full implementation 

of agreements of the World Trade Organization, and 

for other purposes. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enforcing Account5 ability and Transparency in International Trade Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The World Trade Organization is a 164- 

2 member international organization that was created 

3 to oversee and administer multilateral trade rules, 

4 serve as a forum for trade liberalization negotia5 tions, and resolve trade disputes. 

6 (2) The United States was a major force behind 

7 the establishment of the World Trade Organization 

8 in 1995. 

9 (3) The United States, along with other coun10 tries, has sought to establish a more open, rules11 based trading system in the postwar era, with the 

12 goal of fostering international economic cooperation 

13 and raising economic prosperity worldwide. 

14 (4) Congress holds constitutional authority over 

15 foreign commerce and establishes trade negotiating 

16 objectives and principles through legislation. 

17 (5) The statutory basis for the membership of 

18 the United States in the World Trade Organization 

19 is the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 

20 3501 et seq.), and United States priorities and ob21 jectives for the General Agreement on Tariffs and 

22 Trade of the World Trade Organization have been 

23 reflected in various legislative measures providing 

24 expedited trade promotion authority since 1974. 


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1 (6) Congress has recognized the World Trade 

2 Organization as the ‘‘foundation of the global trad3 ing system’’ and plays a direct legislative and over4 sight role over the implementation of World Trade 

5 Organization agreements in the United States. 

6 (7) Ninety-eight percent of global trade is con7 ducted among members of the World Trade Organi8 zation. 

9 (8) Approximately 65 percent of the United 

10 States trade is with countries that do not have free 

11 trade agreements with the United States, such as 

12 with the People’s Republic of China, the European 

13 Union, and India, which thus relies on the terms 

14 provided in agreements of the World Trade Organi15 zation. 

(9) About 2 16 ⁄3 of the members of the World 

17 Trade Organization, including the People’s Republic 

18 of China, self-designate as ‘‘developing’’ countries. 

19 (10) World Trade Organization agreements 

20 allow countries to lower trade barriers gradually, 

21 with developing countries and sensitive sectors in 

22 particular usually given longer transition periods to 

23 fulfill their obligations under new agreements. 

24 (11) The World Trade Organization also sup25 plements such ‘‘special and differential’’ treatment 


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1 for developing countries by providing capacity-build2 ing measures, providing technical assistance for the 

3 implementation of obligations under World Trade 

4 Organization agreements, and permitting countries 

5 to extend non-reciprocal trade preference programs 

6 to such developing countries. 

7 (12) On July 26, 2019, President Donald J. 

8 Trump issued a document entitled ‘‘Memorandum 

9 on Reforming Developing Country Status in the 

10 World Trade Organization’’. 

11 SEC. 3. REPORT ON UNITED STATES STRATEGY AT THE 

12 WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION. 

13 Not later than 90 days after the date of the enact14 ment of this Act, the United States Trade Representative 

15 shall submit to Congress a report describing the manner 

16 in which the Trade Representative plans to pursue a 

17 United States strategy with respect to the World Trade 

18 Organization to— 

19 (1) facilitate the full implementation of agree20 ments reached by the World Trade Organization; 

21 (2) enable the maximum benefits from trade to 

22 accrue to those members of the World Trade Orga23 nization that face the greatest difficulty integrating 

24 into the multilateral trading system of the World 

25 Trade Organization; and 


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1 (3) ensure that any member of the World Trade 

2 Organization that meets all of the following criteria 

3 does not receive ‘‘special and differential’’ treatment 

4 under current or future agreements of the World 

5 Trade Organization: 

6 (A) The member is ranked by the World 

7 Bank as among one of the top 10 economies in 

8 the world based on nominal gross domestic 

9 product. 

10 (B) The member is also a member of the 

11 Group of 20. 

12 (C) The member is also a member of, or 

13 has begun the accession process to, the 

14 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 

15 Development. 

Æ 


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