II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1671 

To enhance the reporting requirements on the status of the Arab League 

trade boycott of Israel and other trade boycotts of Israel. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009 

Mr. GRAHAM (for himself and Mr. SCHUMER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To enhance the reporting requirements on the status of 

the Arab League trade boycott of Israel and other trade 

boycotts of Israel. 

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

3 SECTION 1. FINDINGS. 

4 Congress finds the following: 

5 (1) The Arab League’s trade boycott of the 

6 State of Israel is inconsistent with World Trade Or7 ganization’s (WTO) principle of nondiscrimination. 

8 (2) Trade boycotts of the State of Israel are a 

9 barrier to better relations between Israel and nations 

10 of the Arab League. 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

2 

•S 1671 IS

1 (3) It has been the long-standing policy of the 

2 United States to oppose the enforcement of trade 

3 boycotts of Israel. 

4 (4) Many members of the World Trade Organi5 zation continue to enforce the primary trade boycott 

6 of the State of Israel. Other WTO members continue 

7 to enforce the secondary and tertiary trade boycott 

8 of the State of Israel. 

9 (5) Taxpayers are required to report requests to 

10 participate in or cooperate with an international boy11 cott. Section 999 of the Internal Revenue Code of 

12 1986 requires the Secretary of the Treasury to keep 

13 a list of countries which require or may require par14 ticipation in, or cooperation with, a trade boycott of 

15 Israel. Currently, the list of countries which require 

16 or may require participation in a trade boycott of 

17 Israel includes Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Qatar, 

18 Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and 

19 the Republic of Yemen. 

20 (6) In 2005, during negotiations for the acces21 sion of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the World 

22 Trade Organization (WTO), the United States re23 ceived assurances from the Kingdom of Saudi Ara24 bia that, upon accession, ‘‘WTO rules will apply be25 tween Saudi Arabia and all current members’’ which 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

3 

•S 1671 IS

1 includes Israel. Further, the United States received 

2 assurances that ‘‘Saudi Arabia is legally obligated to 

3 provide most-favored nation treatment to all WTO 

4 Members, including Israel. Any government sanc5 tioned activity on the Boycott [of Israel] would be 

6 a violation of Saudi Arabia’s obligations and subject 

7 to dispute settlement. This legal obligation cannot be 

8 changed.’’. 

9 (7) The United States Trade Representative re10 ports annually on the Arab League’s trade boycott 

11 of Israel under the National Trade Estimate report 

12 but that reporting on trade boycotts of Israel can be 

13 improved through additional reporting requirements. 

14 (8) Greater transparency and more comprehen15 sive reporting will assist United States taxpayers in 

16 complying with United States law and policy regard17 ing trade boycotts of Israel. 

18 (9) Improved reporting will enhance efforts to 

19 end all trade boycotts of Israel and allow progress 

20 on ending such boycotts to be better measured. 

21 (10) Taking steps to improve transparency with 

22 respect to the boycott of Israel can serve the United 

23 States goal of the elimination of the trade boycott of 

24 Israel. Fostering increased trade and investment ties 

25 between Israel and the countries of the greater Midmstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

4 

•S 1671 IS

1 dle East can encourage stronger ties and greater un2 derstanding among the peoples of the Middle East. 

3 SEC. 2. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

4 Congress reaffirms its opposition to trade boycotts of 

5 Israel and calls on the President to take stronger steps 

6 to end all trade boycotts of Israel. 

7 SEC. 3. NATIONAL TRADE ESTIMATE REPORTING REQUIRE8 MENT. 

9 (a) Section 181(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

10 U.S.C. 2241(b)) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(4) REPORT ON THE BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The United States 

14 Trade Representative shall include in each re15 port submitted under paragraph (1), a list of 

16 each country that participates in any trade boy17 cott of Israel. With respect to each country 

18 identified as participating in a formal or infor19 mal trade boycott of the State of Israel, the 

20 United States Trade Representative shall report 

21 on a country-specific basis the following: 

22 ‘‘(i) Whether the country is a partici23 pant in the Arab League boycott or any 

24 other boycott of Israel including any boymstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

5 

•S 1671 IS

1 cott sponsored by the Arab League or the 

2 Organization of Islamic Conference. 

3 ‘‘(ii) Whether any officials of the boy4 cotting country have attended any Arab 

5 League or Organization of the Islamic 

6 Conference boycott meetings in any official 

7 or unofficial capacity during the year pre8 ceding the submission of the report. 

9 ‘‘(iii) Whether the boycotting country 

10 maintains a government office with respon11 sibility for enforcement of a boycott of 

12 Israel. 

13 ‘‘(iv) Whether the boycotting country 

14 has laws enforcing a boycott of Israel or 

15 otherwise prohibiting Israeli origin goods 

16 from entering its territories and a sum17 mary of those laws. 

18 ‘‘(v) Whether the boycotting country 

19 has recently changed its domestic boycott 

20 laws or regulations with respect to either 

21 strengthening or eliminating the boycott. 

22 ‘‘(vi) Whether a country’s laws or 

23 practices with respect to a boycott of Israel 

24 are of a nature that they may lead a tax25 payer to reasonably conclude that the taxmstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

6 

•S 1671 IS

1 payer would be required to report a re2 quest to participate in or cooperate with 

3 the boycott to the Secretary of the Treas4 ury pursuant to section 999 of the Internal 

5 Revenue Code of 1986. 

6 ‘‘(vii) Whether a country encourages 

7 or otherwise condones, through govern8 ment-sponsored actions, an unofficial boy9 cott of goods of Israeli origin, including 

10 consumer marketing campaigns directed 

11 against the purchase of goods of Israeli or12 igin. 

13 ‘‘(viii) Whether a country’s formal or 

14 informal boycott practices have had an 

15 identifiable impact on United States ex16 ports of goods that have Israeli content. 

17 ‘‘(ix) Whether a country’s formal or 

18 informal boycott practices have had an 

19 identifiable impact on United States busi20 nesses with operations or investments in 

21 Israel. 

22 ‘‘(B) OTHER INFORMATION.—The United 

23 States Trade Representative shall include in the 

24 National Trade Estimate, a report on any steps 

25 taken by the United States at the World Trade 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

7 

•S 1671 IS

1 Organization or other international fora to end 

2 the trade boycott of the State of Israel.’’. 

Æ 

mstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS