I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2263

To compensate agricultural producers in the United States for damages

incurred as a result of trade embargoes that include agricultural commodities and products produced in the United States among the prohibited

trade items.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

SEPTEMBER 6, 1995

Mrs. CHENOWETH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Agriculture

A BILL

To compensate agricultural producers in the United States

for damages incurred as a result of trade embargoes

that include agricultural commodities and products produced in the United States among the prohibited trade

items.

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

3 SECTION 1. COMPENSATION FOR FARMERS FOR DAMAGES

4 FROM TRADE EMBARGOES.

5 (a) COMPENSATION REQUIRED.—In connection with

6 any trade embargo imposed by the President after the

7 date of the enactment of this Act, or any retaliatory em-
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1 bargo imposed by a foreign country in response to such

2 an embargo, the Secretary of Agriculture shall compensate

3 producers of each agricultural commodity produced in the

4 United States and included among the prohibited trade

5 items for damages incurred by the producers as a result

6 of lost sales or reduced market price of the commodity

7 due to the initial or retaliatory embargo. This section shall

8 not apply in the case of a trade embargo imposed by the

9 President that prohibits all trade with the country subject

10 to the embargo, if the Congress passes a law approving

11 of the embargo.

12 (b) FILING OF CLAIM.—To obtain compensation

13 under subsection (a), a producer shall file a claim with

14 the Secretary of Agriculture specifying the amount of the

15 damages incurred by the producer as a result of an embar16 go described in subsection (a).

17 (c) CALCULATION OF DAMAGES.—For each agricul18 tural commodity produced in the United States and sub19 ject to an embargo described in subsection (a), the Sec20 retary of Agriculture shall determine the difference, if any,

21 between the average price of the agricultural commodity

22 for the 12-month period ending on the date the agricul23 tural commodity became subject to the embargo and the

24 average price of the agricultural commodity for the 12-

25 month period immediately after that date. The Secretary
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1 shall adjust the amount determined under the preceding

2 sentence to reflect only the amount of the price reduction

3 resulting from the embargo. Producers shall use the ad4 justed amount to calculate their damages. If the embargo

5 extends beyond the first year, the Secretary shall redeter6 mine the difference between the average prices during

7 each subsequent 12-month period.

8 (d) PAYMENT.—The Secretary of Agriculture shall

9 forward the producer’s claim to the Commodity Credit

10 Corporation, which shall pay the producer, from funds

11 available to the Corporation, an amount equal to—

12 (1) three times the amount of the damages de13 termined under subsection (c), in the case of an ag14 ricultural commodity subject to a trade embargo im15 posed by the President; or

16 (2) the amount of the damages determined

17 under subsection (c), in the case of an agricultural

18 commodity subject to a retaliatory embargo imposed

19 by a foreign country in response to the President’s

20 embargo.

21 (e) REIMBURSEMENT.—The Secretary of the Treas22 ury shall reimburse the Commodity Credit Corporation,

23 from funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated,

24 for all payments made by the Corporation under sub25 section (d).
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1 (f) ADJUDICATION OF DISPUTES.—In the case of a

2 dispute arising in connection with a claim under this sec3 tion, the United States Court of Federal Claims shall have

4 jurisdiction to adjudicate the claim and enter judgment

5 accordingly. If the Court enters judgment on behalf of the

6 producer, the United States shall be responsible for the

7 costs incurred by the producer to pursue the claim.

8 (g) NOTIFICATION OF CONGRESS.—As soon as pos9 sible after the President imposes an embargo described in

10 subsection (a) or is informed of a retaliatory embargo, the

11 President shall notify the Congress regarding—

12 (1) the agricultural commodities subject to the

13 embargo;

14 (2) the amount of damages to agricultural pro15 ducers estimated as likely to result from the embar16 go; and

17 (3) the source of funds to be used to provide

18 compensation to such producers under subsection

19 (a).

20 (h) ASSISTANCE FOLLOWING EMBARGO.—During

21 the one-year period following the lifting of any trade em22 bargo described in subsection (a) with respect to an agri23 cultural commodity, the Secretary of Agriculture shall pro24 vide assistance to producers of the agricultural commodity

25 in order to assist such producers to regain market share
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1 lost as a result of the embargo. The Secretary shall pro2 vide such assistance in such manner and under such terms

3 as the Secretary considers appropriate.

4 (i) AGRICULTURAL COMMODITY DEFINED.—For pur5 poses of this section, the term ‘‘agricultural commodity’’

6 means—

7 (1) any agricultural commodity planted and

8 produced in the United States by annual tilling of

9 the soil (including tilling by one-trip planters), such

10 as wheat, corn, grain sorghum, barley, oats, rye, cot11 ton, soybeans, peanuts, tobacco, sugar beets, pota12 toes, and vegetables;

13 (2) sugar cane and rice planted and produced

14 in the United States;

15 (3) milk, fruits, and honey produced in the

16 United States;

17 (4) beef and other livestock, poultry, and

18 aquacultural species raised in the United States; and

19 (5) timber and fiber crops produced in the

20 United States.

21 Such term also includes any integral input into the pro22 duction of an agricultural commodity, such as seed crops,

23 crop nutrients, or crop protection products.

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