I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 638 

To withdraw normal trade relations treatment from, and apply certain provisions of title IV of the Trade Act of 1974 to, products of the People’s 

Republic of China, and to expand the eligibility requirements for products 

of the People’s Republic of China to receive normal trade relations 

treatment in the future, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 30, 2023 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey (for himself and Mr. TIFFANY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, 

and in addition to the Committee on Rules, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such 

provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To withdraw normal trade relations treatment from, and 

apply certain provisions of title IV of the Trade Act 

of 1974 to, products of the People’s Republic of China, 

and to expand the eligibility requirements for products 

of the People’s Republic of China to receive normal trade 

relations treatment in the future, 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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘China Trade Relations 

3 Act of 2023’’. 

4 SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL OF NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS 

5 TREATMENT FROM THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC 

6 OF CHINA. 

7 Notwithstanding the provisions of title I of Public 

8 Law 106–286 (114 Stat. 880) or any other provision of 

9 law, effective on the date of the enactment of this Act— 

10 (1) normal trade relations treatment shall not 

11 apply pursuant to section 101 of that Act to the 

12 products of the People’s Republic of China; 

13 (2) normal trade relations treatment may there14 after be extended to the products of the People’s Re15 public of China only in accordance with the provi16 sions of chapter 1 of title IV of the Trade Act of 

17 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2431 et seq.), as in effect with re18 spect to the products of the People’s Republic of 

19 China on the day before the effective date of the ac20 cession of the People’s Republic of China to the 

21 World Trade Organization; and 

22 (3) the extension of waiver authority that was 

23 in effect with respect to the People’s Republic of 

24 China under section 402(d)(1) of the Trade Act of 

25 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2432(d)(1)) on the day before the 

26 effective date of the accession of the People’s RepubVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H638.IH H638

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1 lic of China to the World Trade Organization shall, 

2 upon the enactment of this Act, be deemed not to 

3 have expired, and shall continue in effect until the 

4 date that is 90 days after the date of such enact5 ment. 

6 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF BASES OF INELIGIBILITY OF PEO7 PLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA FOR NORMAL 

8 TRADE RELATIONS. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 402 of the Trade Act of 

10 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2432) is amended— 

11 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘FREE12 DOM OF EMIGRATION IN EAST-WEST TRADE’’ 

13 and inserting ‘‘EAST-WEST TRADE AND HUMAN

14 RIGHTS’’; and 

15 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL BASES OF INELIGIBILITY OF PEO17 PLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA FOR NORMAL TRADE RELA18 TIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Products from the People’s 

20 Republic of China shall not be eligible to receive 

21 nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade rela22 tions), the People’s Republic of China shall not par23 ticipate in any program of the Government of the 

24 United States which extends credits or credit guar25 antees or investment guarantees, directly or indiVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H638.IH H638

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1 rectly, and the President shall not conclude any 

2 commercial agreement with the People’s Republic of 

3 China, during the period— 

4 ‘‘(A) beginning with the date on which the 

5 President determines that the People’s Republic 

6 of China— 

7 ‘‘(i) is in violation of paragraph (1), 

8 (2), or (3) of subsection (a); 

9 ‘‘(ii) has not substantially promoted 

10 the freedom of emigration objectives of this 

11 section; 

12 ‘‘(iii) has not complied with the 

13 China-United States Memorandum of Un14 derstanding on Prohibiting Import and Ex15 port Trade in Prison Labor Products, done 

16 at Washington, DC, on August 7, 1992; 

17 ‘‘(iv) has not complied with Inter18 national Labour Organization standards; 

19 ‘‘(v) operates ‘vocational training and 

20 education centers’ or other concentration 

21 camps where people are held against their 

22 will; 

23 ‘‘(vi) intimidates or harasses nationals 

24 of the People’s Republic of China living 

25 outside the People’s Republic of China; 


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1 ‘‘(vii) fails to protect Tibet’s distinc2 tive religious and cultural heritage; 

3 ‘‘(viii) engages in systematic economic 

4 espionage against the United States, in5 cluding theft of the intellectual property of 

6 United States persons; and 

7 ‘‘(ix) has not made significant 

8 progress on— 

9 ‘‘(I) taking steps to begin adher10 ing to the Universal Declaration of 

11 Human Rights; 

12 ‘‘(II) eliminating the use of tor13 ture; 

14 ‘‘(III) releasing and providing an 

15 acceptable accounting for Chinese citi16 zens imprisoned or detained for the 

17 non-violent expression of their polit18 ical and religious beliefs, including 

19 such expression of beliefs in connec20 tion with the independence of Hong 

21 Kong and Taiwan; 

22 ‘‘(IV) ensuring humane treat23 ment of prisoners, such as by allowing 

24 access to prisons by international huVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:46 Feb 15, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H638.IH H638

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1 manitarian and human rights organi2 zations; 

3 ‘‘(V) permitting international 

4 radio and television broadcasts into 

5 China; 

6 ‘‘(VI) humanely treating pris7 oners; 

8 ‘‘(VII) allowing access to inter9 national humanitarian and human 

10 rights organizations; 

11 ‘‘(VIII) ceasing harvesting the 

12 organs of prisoners without their con13 sent; or 

14 ‘‘(IX) ceasing performing and 

15 otherwise ordering forced abortion or 

16 sterilization procedures; and 

17 ‘‘(B) ending on the date on which the 

18 President determines that the People’s Republic 

19 of China is no longer in violation of any of 

20 clauses (i) through (ix) of subparagraph (A). 

21 ‘‘(2) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

22 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—After the date of the 

23 enactment of this subsection, products of the 

24 People’s Republic of China may be eligible to 

25 receive nondiscriminatory treatment (normal 


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1 trade relations), the People’s Republic of China 

2 may participate in any program of the Govern3 ment of the United States which extends credits 

4 or credit guarantees or investment guarantees, 

5 and the President may conclude a commercial 

6 agreement with the People’s Republic of China, 

7 only after the President has submitted to Con8 gress a report indicating that the People’s Re9 public of China is not in violation of any of 

10 clauses (i) through (ix) of paragraph (1)(A). 

11 ‘‘(B) ELEMENTS.—The report required by 

12 subparagraph (A) shall include information as 

13 to the nature and implementation of laws and 

14 policies of the People’s Republic of China relat15 ing to the matters specified in clauses (i) 

16 through (ix) of paragraph (1)(A). 

17 ‘‘(C) DEADLINES.—The report required by 

18 subparagraph (A) shall be submitted on or be19 fore each June 30 and December 31 of each 

20 year for as long as products of the People’s Re21 public of China receive nondiscriminatory treat22 ment (normal trade relations), the People’s Re23 public of China participates in any program of 

24 the Government of the United States which ex25 tends credits or credit guarantees or investment 


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1 guarantees, or a commercial agreement with the 

2 People’s Republic of China is in effect. 

3 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President is au5 thorized to waive by Executive order the appli6 cation of paragraphs (1) and (2) for a 12- 

7 month period if the President submits to Con8 gress a report that the President— 

9 ‘‘(i) has determined that such waiver 

10 will substantially promote the objectives of 

11 this subsection; and 

12 ‘‘(ii) has received assurances that the 

13 practices of the People’s Republic of China 

14 relating to the matters specified in clauses 

15 (i) through (ix) of paragraph (1)(A) will in 

16 the future lead substantially to the achieve17 ment of the objectives of this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(B) TERMINATION OF WAIVER.—A waiver 

19 under subparagraph (A) shall terminate on the 

20 earlier of— 

21 ‘‘(i) the day after the waiver authority 

22 granted by this paragraph ceases to be ef23 fective under paragraph (4); or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) the effective date of an Executive 

2 order providing for termination of the 

3 waiver. 

4 ‘‘(4) EXTENSION OF WAIVER AUTHORITY.— 

5 ‘‘(A) RECOMMENDATIONS.—If the Presi6 dent determines that the further extension of 

7 the waiver authority granted under paragraph 

8 (3) will substantially promote the objectives of 

9 this subsection, the President may recommend 

10 further extensions of such authority for succes11 sive 12-month periods. Any such recommenda12 tions shall— 

13 ‘‘(i) be made not later than 30 days 

14 before the expiration of such authority; 

15 ‘‘(ii) be made in a document sub16 mitted to the House of Representatives 

17 and the Senate setting forth the reasons of 

18 the President for recommending the exten19 sion of such authority; and 

20 ‘‘(iii) include— 

21 ‘‘(I) a determination that con22 tinuation of the waiver will substan23 tially promote the objectives of this 

24 subsection; and 


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1 ‘‘(II) a statement setting forth 

2 the reasons of the President for such 

3 determination. 

4 ‘‘(B) CONTINUATION IN EFFECT OF WAIV5 ER.—If the President recommends under sub6 paragraph (A) the further extension of the 

7 waiver authority granted under paragraph (3), 

8 such authority shall continue in effect until the 

9 end of the 12-month period following the end of 

10 the previous 12-month extension, unless— 

11 ‘‘(i) Congress adopts and transmits to 

12 the President a joint resolution of dis13 approval under paragraph (5) before the 

14 end of the 60-day period beginning on the 

15 date the waiver authority would expire but 

16 for an extension under subparagraph (A); 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(ii) if the President vetoes the joint 

19 resolution, each House of Congress votes 

20 to override the veto on or before the later 

21 of— 

22 ‘‘(I) the last day of the 60-day 

23 period referred to in clause (i); or 

24 ‘‘(II) the last day of the 15-day 

25 period (excluding any day described in 


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1 section 154(b)) beginning on the date 

2 on which Congress receives the veto 

3 message from the President. 

4 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION OF WAIVER PURSUANT

5 TO JOINT RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL.—If a 

6 joint resolution of disapproval is enacted into 

7 law pursuant to paragraph (5), the waiver au8 thority granted under paragraph (3) shall cease 

9 to be effective as of the day after the 60-day 

10 period beginning on the date of the enactment 

11 of the joint resolution. 

12 ‘‘(5) JOINT RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL.— 

13 ‘‘(A) JOINT RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL

14 DEFINED.—In this paragraph, the term ‘joint 

15 resolution of disapproval’ means a joint resolu16 tion the matter after the resolving clause of 

17 which is as follows: ‘That Congress does not ap18 prove the extension of the authority contained 

19 in paragraph (3) of section 402(f) of the Trade 

20 Act of 1974 with respect to the People’s Repub21 lic of China recommended by the President to 

22 Congress under paragraph (4) of that section 

23 on lll.’, with the blank space being filled 

24 with the appropriate date. 


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1 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES IN HOUSE AND SEN2 ATE.—The provisions of subsections (b) 

3 through (f) of section 152 shall apply with re4 spect to a joint resolution of approval to the 

5 same extent and in the same manner as such 

6 provisions apply with respect to a resolution de7 scribed in subsection (a) of that section, except 

8 that subsection (e)(2) of that section shall be 

9 applied and administered by substituting ‘Con10 sideration’ for ‘Debate’. 

11 ‘‘(C) RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REP12 RESENTATIVES AND SENATE.—This paragraph 

13 is enacted by Congress— 

14 ‘‘(i) as an exercise of the rulemaking 

15 power of the House of Representatives and 

16 the Senate, respectively, and as such is 

17 deemed a part of the rules of each House, 

18 respectively, and supersedes other rules 

19 only to the extent that it is inconsistent 

20 with such other rules; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) with full recognition of the con22 stitutional right of either House to change 

23 the rules (so far as relating to the proce24 dure of that House) at any time, in the 


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1 same manner and to the same extent as in 

2 the case of any other rule of that House.’’. 

3 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

4 for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by striking the item 

5 relating to section 402 and inserting the following: 

‘‘Sec. 402. East-West trade and human rights.’’. 

Æ 


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