II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2208 

To require the United States International Trade Commission to investigate 

tariff policies relating to foreign-trade zones. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 24, 2021 

Mr. CORNYN (for himself, Mr. CARPER, Mr. TOOMEY, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. 

COONS, and Mr. LANKFORD) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To require the United States International Trade Commission to investigate tariff policies relating to foreign-trade 

zones. 

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 ‘‘United States-Mexico5 Canada Agreement Foreign-Trade Zone Modernization 

6 Act of 2021’’ or the ‘‘USMCA FTZ Modernization Act 

7 of 2021’’. 

8 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

9 Congress makes the following findings: 


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1 (1) Expanding benefits to United States work2 ers and businesses, reshoring critical supply chains, 

3 and creating United States based manufacturing re4 quires analyzing tariff policies, assessing any nega5 tive impacts that tariffs may have on United States 

6 businesses and workers, and identifying the most ef7 fective policy options to correct those impacts and to 

8 revisit tariff treatment, if needed, particularly with 

9 respect to manufactured products exported from 

10 countries with which the United States has a free 

11 trade agreement in effect. 

12 (2) The North American Free Trade Agreement 

13 Implementation Act (Public Law 103–182; 107 

14 Stat. 2057) included a restriction, in section 

15 202(a)(2)(A) of that Act, that prevented goods man16 ufactured in foreign-trade zones from receiving pref17 erential tariff treatment under the North American 

18 Free Trade Agreement. 

19 (3) Title VI of division O of the Consolidated 

20 Appropriations Act, 2021 (Public Law 116–260) 

21 made a set of ‘‘technical corrections’’ to the United 

22 States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation 

23 Act (19 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) and included the same 

24 restriction described in paragraph (2). 


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1 (4) United States manufacturers operating in 

2 foreign-trade zones believe that that restriction re3 moves parity with their counterparts in the equiva4 lent of foreign-trade zones under Mexico and Can5 ada’s export-promotion programs, which do not have 

6 a similar restriction in place. 

7 (5) Canadian and Mexican manufacturers al8 ready enjoy advantages over United States manufac9 turers operating in the North American market as 

10 a result of— 

11 (A) Mexico and Canada’s export-promotion 

12 programs and extensive networks of free trade 

13 agreements, including with the European Union 

14 and Japan; and 

15 (B) not being subject to restrictions com16 parable to the unilateral restrictions on United 

17 States-based manufacturing in foreign-trade 

18 zones under the United States-Mexico-Canada 

19 Agreement Implementation Act, which were 

20 carried over from the North American Free 

21 Trade Agreement Implementation Act. 

22 (6) Among other things, the advantages de23 scribed in paragraph (5) may encourage the location 

24 of manufacturing in Canada and Mexico, rather 

25 than the United States. 


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1 SEC. 3. INVESTIGATION OF TARIFF POLICIES RELATING TO 

2 FOREIGN-TRADE ZONES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The United States International 

4 Trade Commission shall conduct an investigation to exam5 ine— 

6 (1) policies, particularly differences in tariff 

7 treatment by the United States and Canada and 

8 Mexico, that create inequities between products 

9 manufactured in the United States in foreign-trade 

10 zones and products manufactured in the equivalent 

11 of such zones in Canada and Mexico under the 

12 USMCA (as defined in section 3 of the United 

13 States-Mexico-Canada Agreement Implementation 

14 Act (19 U.S.C. 4502)); 

15 (2) any effects those policies have on the cost16 competitiveness of products manufactured in the 

17 United States for both the domestic and export mar18 kets compared to products manufactured in Canada 

19 or Mexico under the USMCA, including an analysis 

20 by sector and State; and 

21 (3) how the foreign-trade zones in the United 

22 States could be better employed to redress and miti23 gate those inequities. 

24 (b) EXCLUSIONS FROM INVESTIGATION.—The Com25 mission shall exclude from the investigation required by 

26 subsection (a) examination of duties imposed under— 


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1 (1) chapter 1 of title II the Trade Act of 1974 

2 (19 U.S.C. 2251 et seq.); 

3 (2) title III of that Act (19 U.S.C. 2411 et 

4 seq.); 

5 (3) section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 

6 1962 (19 U.S.C. 1862); or 

7 (4) any other trade remedy law of the United 

8 States. 

9 (c) ASSISTANCE FROM OTHER AGENCIES.—The Sec10 retary of Homeland Security and the Secretary of Com11 merce shall make available to the Commission such infor12 mation as is necessary for the Commission to conduct the 

13 investigation required by subsection (a). 

14 (d) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 18 months 

15 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commis16 sion shall submit to Congress a report on the investigation 

17 required by subsection (a). 

Æ 


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