II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 629 

To provide the President with authority to enter into a comprehensive trade 

agreement with the United Kingdom, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 2, 2023 

Mr. COONS (for himself and Mr. THUNE) introduced the following bill; which 

was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To provide the President with authority to enter into a 

comprehensive trade agreement with the United Kingdom, 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 ‘‘Undertaking Negotia5 tions on Investment and Trade for Economic Dynamism 

6 Act’’ or the ‘‘UNITED Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

8 It is the sense of Congress that— 

9 (1) the United States should pursue more open 

10 trade and investment relationships with its allies to 


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1 strengthen the economy of the United States, im2 prove the standard of living of the people of the 

3 United States, and advance the strategic interests of 

4 the United States; 

5 (2) agreements to reduce or eliminate barriers 

6 to trade and investment between the United States 

7 and its allies will foster mutually beneficial economic 

8 relationships that advance the economic interests of 

9 workers, farmers, ranchers, and businesses of all 

10 sizes in the United States; 

11 (3) the shared values and long history of the 

12 ‘‘special relationship’’ between the United States and 

13 the United Kingdom present a unique opportunity to 

14 deepen the mutually beneficial economic and stra15 tegic relationship between those countries and fur16 ther expand prosperity for the citizens of those coun17 tries; 

18 (4) a high-standard, comprehensive trade agree19 ment between the United States and the United 

20 Kingdom would help strengthen that relationship, 

21 improve the economic prospects of people in both 

22 countries, increase the resilience of critical supply 

23 chains, and create export opportunities for busi24 nesses of all sizes; 


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1 (5) the efforts of the United States-United 

2 Kingdom Trade and Investment Working Group and 

3 the bilateral negotiations initiated by President Don4 ald Trump have laid groundwork toward a com5 prehensive trade agreement; 

6 (6) the United States-United Kingdom Dia7 logue on the Future of Atlantic Trade initiated by 

8 President Joe Biden continues longstanding efforts 

9 to improve economic cooperation between the United 

10 States and the United Kingdom; 

11 (7) the robust labor and environmental protec12 tions in the United Kingdom reduce the risk of regu13 latory arbitrage that undercuts workers and busi14 nesses in the United States; 

15 (8) Congress passed the USMCA with over16 whelming bipartisan support, setting high standards 

17 in North America with respect to labor rights, the 

18 environment, intellectual property, non-market prac19 tices, and services, and those standards should in20 form future negotiations; 

21 (9) trade agreements with foreign trading part22 ners that share the values and ambition of the 

23 United States offer an opportunity to build on the 

24 USMCA and set high international standards across 

25 many important policy areas; 


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1 (10) any trade negotiations between the United 

2 States and the United Kingdom must honor the 

3 agreement between the Government of Ireland and 

4 the Government of the United Kingdom signed on 

5 April 10, 1998 (commonly known as the ‘‘Good Fri6 day Agreement’’), and any trade agreement between 

7 those countries must advance peace, stability, and 

8 prosperity in Ireland and Northern Ireland; 

9 (11) the United Kingdom, like many key trad10 ing partners of the United States, is actively negoti11 ating for expanded access to foreign markets, includ12 ing through both new bilateral agreements and exist13 ing regional agreements such as the Comprehensive 

14 and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Part15 nership, and the United States must likewise seek to 

16 advance its access to foreign markets to ensure that 

17 businesses, consumers, farmers, ranchers, and work18 ers in the United States are not left behind; and 

19 (12) to effectively pursue comprehensive trade 

20 negotiations with the United Kingdom for purposes 

21 of a trade agreement between the United States and 

22 the United Kingdom, Congress must grant new ne23 gotiating authority to the President, which should— 


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1 (A) enable the swift negotiation and pas2 sage through Congress of such an agreement; 

3 and 

4 (B) be narrowly tailored to provide clear 

5 direction to the executive branch of the United 

6 States Government. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) USMCA.—The term ‘‘USMCA’’ means the 

10 Agreement between the United States of America, 

11 the United Mexican States, and Canada, which is— 

12 (A) attached as an Annex to the Protocol 

13 Replacing the North American Free Trade 

14 Agreement with the Agreement between the 

15 United States of America, the United Mexican 

16 States, and Canada, done at Buenos Aires on 

17 November 30, 2018, as amended by the Pro18 tocol of Amendment to the Agreement Between 

19 the United States of America, the United Mexi20 can States, and Canada, done at Mexico City 

21 on December 10, 2019; and 

22 (B) approved by Congress under section 

23 101(a)(1) of the United States-Mexico-Canada 

24 Agreement Implementation Act (19 U.S.C. 

25 4511(a)). 


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1 (2) UNITED KINGDOM.—The term ‘‘United 

2 Kingdom’’ means the United Kingdom of Great 

3 Britain and Northern Ireland. 

4 SEC. 4. NEGOTIATING AND TRADE AGREEMENTS AUTHOR5 ITY FOR COMPREHENSIVE AGREEMENT WITH 

6 THE UNITED KINGDOM. 

7 (a) INITIATION OF NEGOTIATIONS.—Not later than 

8 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, in 

9 order to enhance the economic well-being of the United 

10 States, the President shall seek to initiate negotiations 

11 with the United Kingdom regarding tariff and nontariff 

12 barriers affecting any industry, product, or service sector. 

13 (b) AUTHORITY FOR COMPREHENSIVE TRADE

14 AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED KINGDOM.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—To strengthen the economic 

16 competitiveness of the United States, the President 

17 may enter into a comprehensive trade agreement 

18 with the United Kingdom regarding tariff and non19 tariff barriers affecting trade between the United 

20 States and United Kingdom. 

21 (2) TERMINATION OF AUTHORITY.—The au22 thority under paragraph (1) terminates on March 1, 

23 2025. 

24 (c) MODIFICATIONS PERMITTED.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), 

2 the President may proclaim such modification or 

3 continuance of any existing duty, continuance of ex4 isting duty-free or excise treatment, or such addi5 tional duties as the President determines to be re6 quired or appropriate to carry out an agreement en7 tered into under subsection (b). 

8 (2) LIMITATIONS.— 

9 (A) MODIFICATIONS OR ADDITIONS TO

10 AGREEMENT.—Substantial modifications to, or 

11 substantial additional provisions of, an agree12 ment entered into after March 1, 2025, are not 

13 covered by the authority under paragraph (1). 

14 (B) AMOUNT OF DUTY MODIFICATION.— 

15 No proclamation may be made under paragraph 

16 (1) that— 

17 (i) reduces any rate of duty (other 

18 than a rate of duty that does not exceed 5 

19 percent ad valorem on the date of the en20 actment of this Act) to a rate of duty that 

21 is less than 50 percent of the rate of such 

22 duty that applies on such date of enact23 ment; 

24 (ii) reduces the rate of duty below 

25 that applicable under the Uruguay Round 


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1 Agreements (as defined in section 2(7) of 

2 the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 

3 U.S.C. 3501)) or a successor agreement, 

4 on any import sensitive agricultural prod5 uct; or 

6 (iii) increases any rate of duty above 

7 the rate that applied on the date of the en8 actment of this Act. 

9 (d) CONSULTATION WITH AND NOTIFICATION TO

10 CONGRESS.—To ensure the alignment of the trade policy 

11 priorities of Congress with the content of any agreement 

12 under this section, the President shall consult with Con13 gress before and throughout negotiations initiated under 

14 subsection (a) and shall notify Congress of the intention 

15 of the President to enter into an agreement under sub16 section (b) or to make a proclamation under subsection 

17 (c). 

18 (e) BILLS QUALIFYING FOR TRADE AUTHORITIES

19 PROCEDURES.— 

20 (1) IMPLEMENTING BILLS.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The provisions of sec22 tion 151 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

23 2191) apply to a bill of either House of Con24 gress that contains provisions described in sub25 paragraph (B) to the same extent as such secVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Mar 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S629.IS S629

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1 tion 151 applies to implementing bills under 

2 that section. A bill to which this paragraph ap3 plies shall hereafter in this section be referred 

4 to as an ‘‘implementing bill’’. 

5 (B) PROVISIONS SPECIFIED.—The provi6 sions described in this subparagraph are— 

7 (i) a provision approving a trade 

8 agreement entered into under this section 

9 and approving the statement of adminis10 trative action, if any, proposed to imple11 ment such trade agreement; and 

12 (ii) if changes in existing laws or new 

13 statutory authority are required to imple14 ment such trade agreement, only such pro15 visions as are strictly necessary or appro16 priate to implement such trade agreement, 

17 either repealing or amending existing laws 

18 or providing new statutory authority. 

19 (2) DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF BILL.—The 

20 procedures under paragraph (1) apply to imple21 menting bills submitted with respect to a trade 

22 agreement entered into under this section before 

23 March 1, 2025. 

24 (f) LIMITATION ON WAIVER, SUSPENSION, OR TER25 MINATION.—An agreement entered into under this section 


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1 shall not be waived, suspended, or terminated, in whole 

2 or in part, with respect to the United States without the 

3 express approval by Congress of such termination. 

4 (g) RELATIONSHIP TO BIPARTISAN CONGRESSIONAL

5 TRADE PRIORITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF

6 2015.—An agreement under this section shall not enter 

7 into force with respect to the United States and an imple8 menting bill shall not qualify for trade authorities proce9 dures under subsection (e), including an agreement that 

10 does not require changes to United States law or an imple11 menting bill in connection therewith, unless the following 

12 requirements under the Bipartisan Congressional Trade 

13 Priorities and Accountability Act of 2015 (19 U.S.C. 4201 

14 et seq.) are carried out with respect to that agreement 

15 or implementing bill to the same extent as would be re16 quired of an agreement entered into under section 103(b) 

17 of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4202(b)), notwithstanding the expi18 ration of authority to enter into an agreement under such 

19 section 103(b): 

20 (1) The trade negotiating objectives under sec21 tion 102 of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4201). 

22 (2) The congressional oversight and consulta23 tion requirements under section 104 of that Act (19 

24 U.S.C. 4203). 


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1 (3) The notification, consultation, and reporting 

2 requirements under section 105 of that Act (19 

3 U.S.C. 4204). 

4 (4) The implementation procedures under sec5 tion 106 of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4205). 

6 (5) The provisions related to sovereignty under 

7 section 108 of that Act (19 U.S.C. 4207). 

Æ 


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