I 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1749 

To enhance reciprocal market access for United States domestic producers 

in the negotiating process of bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade 

agreements. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 5, 2011 

Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself, Mr. DEFAZIO, Mr. MICHAUD, Ms. MOORE, Mr. 

JONES, Mr. DINGELL, Mr. HIGGINS, Mr. LIPINSKI, Mr. TONKO, Ms. 

SUTTON, Mr. HINCHEY, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. 

HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. FILNER, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. 

MCINTYRE, Mr. KISSELL, Ms. DELAURO, Mr. RYAN of Ohio, Ms. 

CLARKE of New York, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. 

CRITZ, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. CLAY, Mr. GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. 

ISRAEL, Mr. OLVER, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. WOOLSEY, 

and Mr. CAPUANO) introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To enhance reciprocal market access for United States domestic producers in the negotiating process of bilateral, 

regional, and multilateral trade agreements. 

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 ‘‘Reciprocal Market Ac5 cess Act of 2011’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 

2 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) One of the fundamental tenets of the World 

4 Trade Organization (WTO) is reciprocal market ac5 cess. This principle is underscored in the Marrakesh 

6 Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organiza7 tion which called for ‘‘entering into reciprocal and 

8 mutually advantageous arrangements directed to the 

9 substantial reduction of tariffs and other barriers to 

10 trade and to the elimination of discriminatory treat11 ment in international trade relations’’. 

12 (2) The American people have a right to expect 

13 that the promises that trade negotiators and policy 

14 makers offer in terms of the market access opportu15 nities that will be available to United States busi16 nesses and their employees if trade agreements are 

17 reached, will, in fact, be realized. A results-oriented 

18 approach must form the basis of future trade nego19 tiations that includes verification procedures to en20 sure that the promised market access is achieved 

21 and that reciprocal trade benefits result. 

22 (3) With each subsequent round of bilateral, re23 gional, and multilateral trade negotiations, tariffs 

24 have been significantly reduced or eliminated for 

25 many manufactured goods, leaving nontariff barriers 

26 as the most pervasive, significant, and challenging 


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1 barriers to United States exports and market oppor2 tunities. 

3 (4) The United States market is widely recog4 nized as one of the most open markets in the world. 

5 Average United States tariff rates are very low and 

6 the United States has limited, if any, nontariff bar7 riers. 

8 (5) Often the only leverage the United States 

9 has to obtain the reduction or elimination of non10 tariff barriers imposed by foreign countries is to ne11 gotiate the amount of tariffs the United States im12 poses on imports from those foreign countries. 

13 (6) Under the current negotiating process, ne14 gotiations to reduce or eliminate tariff barriers and 

15 nontariff barriers are separate and self-contained, 

16 meaning that tradeoffs are tariff-for-tariff and non17 tariff-for-nontariff. As a result, a tariff can be re18 duced or eliminated without securing elimination of 

19 the real barrier or barriers that deny United States 

20 businesses access to a foreign market. 

21 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to require 

22 that United States trade negotiations achieve measurable 

23 results for United States businesses by ensuring that 

24 trade agreements result in expanded market access for 


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1 United States exports and not solely the elimination of 

2 tariffs on goods imported into the United States. 

3 SEC. 3. LIMITATION ON AUTHORITY TO REDUCE OR ELIMI4 NATE RATES OF DUTY PURSUANT TO CER5 TAIN TRADE AGREEMENTS. 

6 (a) LIMITATION.—Notwithstanding any other provi7 sion of law, on or after the date of the enactment of this 

8 Act, the President may not agree to a modification of an 

9 existing duty that would reduce or eliminate the bound 

10 or applied rate of such duty on any product in order to 

11 carry out a trade agreement entered into between the 

12 United States and a foreign country until the President 

13 transmits to Congress a certification described in sub14 section (b). 

15 (b) CERTIFICATION.—A certification referred to in 

16 subsection (a) is a certification by the President that— 

17 (1) the United States has obtained the reduc18 tion or elimination of tariff and nontariff barriers 

19 and policies and practices of the government of a 

20 foreign country described in subsection (a) with re21 spect to United States exports of any product identi22 fied by United States domestic producers as having 

23 the same physical characteristics and uses as the 

24 product for which a modification of an existing duty 


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1 is sought by the President as described in subsection 

2 (a); and 

3 (2) a violation of any provision of the trade 

4 agreement described in subsection (a) relating to the 

5 matters described in paragraph (1) is immediately 

6 enforceable in accordance with the provisions of sec7 tion 4. 

8 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT PROVISIONS. 

9 (a) WITHDRAWAL OF TARIFF CONCESSIONS.—If the 

10 President does agree to a modification described in section 

11 3(a), and the United States Trade Representative deter12 mines pursuant to subsection (c) that— 

13 (1) a tariff or nontariff barrier or policy or 

14 practice of the government of a foreign country de15 scribed in section 3(a) has not been reduced or 

16 eliminated, or 

17 (2) a tariff or nontariff barrier or policy or 

18 practice of such government has been imposed or 

19 discovered, 

20 the modification shall be withdrawn until such time as the 

21 United States Trade Representative submits to Congress 

22 a certification described in section 3(b)(1). 

23 (b) INVESTIGATION.— 

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

25 Representative shall initiate an investigation if an 


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1 interested party files a petition with the United 

2 States Trade Representative which alleges the ele3 ments necessary for the withdrawal of the modifica4 tion of an existing duty under subsection (a), and 

5 which is accompanied by information reasonably 

6 available to the petitioner supporting such allega7 tions. 

8 (2) INTERESTED PARTY DEFINED.—For pur9 poses of paragraph (1), the term ‘‘interested party’’ 

10 means— 

11 (A) a manufacturer, producer, or whole12 saler in the United States of a domestic product 

13 that has the same physical characteristics and 

14 uses as the product for which a modification of 

15 an existing duty is sought; 

16 (B) a certified union or recognized union 

17 or group of workers engaged in the manufac18 ture, production, or wholesale in the United 

19 States of a domestic product that has the same 

20 physical characteristics and uses as the product 

21 for which a modification of an existing duty is 

22 sought; 

23 (C) a trade or business association a ma24 jority of whose members manufacture, produce, 

25 or wholesale in the United States a domestic 


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1 product that has the same physical characteris2 tics and uses as the product for which a modi3 fication of an existing duty is sought; and 

4 (D) a member of the Committee on Ways 

5 and Means of the House of Representatives or 

6 a member of the Committee on Finance of the 

7 Senate. 

8 (c) DETERMINATION BY USTR.—Not later than 45 

9 days after the date on which a petition is filed under sub10 section (b), the United States Trade Representative 

11 shall— 

12 (1) determine whether the petition alleges the 

13 elements necessary for the withdrawal of the modi14 fication of an existing duty under subsection (a); 

15 and 

16 (2) notify the petitioner of the determination 

17 under paragraph (1) and the reasons for the deter18 mination. 

19 SEC. 5. MARKET ACCESS ASSESSMENT BY INTERNATIONAL 

20 TRADE COMMISSION. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The International Trade Commis22 sion shall conduct an assessment of the impact of each 

23 proposed trade agreement between the United States and 

24 a foreign country on tariff and nontariff barriers and poli25 cies and practices of the government of the foreign country 


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1 with respect to United States exports of any product iden2 tified by United States domestic producers as having the 

3 same physical characteristics and uses as the product for 

4 which a modification of an existing duty is sought by the 

5 President as described in section 4(a). 

6 (b) IDENTIFICATION.—In conducting the assessment 

7 under subsection (a), the International Trade Commission 

8 shall identify the tariff and nontariff barriers and policies 

9 and practices for such products that exist in the foreign 

10 country and the expected opportunities for exports from 

11 the United States to the foreign country if existing tariff 

12 and nontariff barriers and policies and practices are elimi13 nated. 

14 (c) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the assessment 

15 under subsection (a), the International Trade Commission 

16 shall, as appropriate, consult with and seek to obtain rel17 evant documentation from United States domestic pro18 ducers of products having the same physical characteris19 tics and uses as the product for which a modification of 

20 an existing duty is sought by the President as described 

21 in section 4(a). 

22 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 45 days before the date 

23 on which negotiations for a proposed trade agreement de24 scribed in subsection (a) are initiated, the International 

25 Trade Commission shall submit to the United States 


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1 Trade Representative, the Secretary of Commerce, and 

2 Congress a report on the proposed trade agreement that 

3 contains the assessment under subsection (a) conducted 

4 with respect to such proposed trade agreement. The report 

5 shall be submitted in unclassified form, but may contain 

6 a classified annex if necessary. 

Æ 


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