I 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 6399 

To require a report on the competitiveness of United States exports of 

specialty crops. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 14, 2023 

Ms. BONAMICI (for herself, Mr. VALADAO, and Ms. SLOTKIN) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture 

A BILL 

To require a report on the competitiveness of United States 

exports of specialty crops. 

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 ‘‘Specialty Crops Re5 porting on Opportunities and Promotion Act of 2023’’ or 

6 the ‘‘Specialty CROP Act of 2023’’. 

7 SEC. 2. REPORT ON COMPETITIVENESS OF UNITED STATES 

8 EXPORTS OF SPECIALTY CROPS. 

9 Section 203(e)(7) of the Agricultural Trade Act of 

10 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5623(e)(7)) is amended to read as follows: 

2 

•HR 6399 IH

1 ‘‘(7) ANNUAL REPORT.— 

2 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Each year, the Sec3 retary, in consultation with the United States 

4 Trade Representative, shall submit to the ap5 propriate committees of Congress a report de6 tailing the competitiveness of United States ex7 ports of specialty crops. 

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

9 subparagraph (A) shall— 

10 ‘‘(i) identify and analyze acts, policies, 

11 or practices of foreign countries that con12 stitute significant barriers to, or distor13 tions of United States exports of specialty 

14 crops, including the imposition of— 

15 ‘‘(I) tariffs (including retaliatory 

16 tariffs) and quotas (including tariff17 rate quotas); and 

18 ‘‘(II) nontariff barriers, including 

19 technical barriers to trade, sanitary 

20 and phytosanitary measures, import 

21 licensing procedures, and subsidies; 

22 ‘‘(ii) make an estimate— 

23 ‘‘(I) of the impacts on the com24 petitiveness of United States exports 

25 of specialty crops of any act, policy, or 

3 

•HR 6399 IH

1 practice identified under clause (i); 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(II) if feasible, of the value of 

4 additional specialty crops that would, 

5 during the year preceding submission 

6 of the report, have been exported from 

7 the United States to each foreign 

8 country an act, policy, or practice of 

9 which is identified under clause (i) if 

10 each such act, policy, or practice of 

11 that country did not exist; 

12 ‘‘(iii) assess the extent to which each 

13 act, policy, or practice identified under 

14 clause (i) is subject to international agree15 ments to which the United States is a 

16 party; 

17 ‘‘(iv) include information with respect 

18 to any action taken by the executive 

19 branch during the year preceding submis20 sion of the report, or expected to be taken 

21 after submission of the report, to eliminate 

22 any act, policy, or practice identified under 

23 clause (i), including— 

24 ‘‘(I) any action under section 

25 301; 

4 

•HR 6399 IH

1 ‘‘(II) negotiations or consulta2 tions with foreign governments, which 

3 may include engagement through the 

4 standing committee on sanitary and 

5 phytosanitary matters established 

6 under a free trade agreement to which 

7 the United States is a party; and 

8 ‘‘(III) action at the World Trade 

9 Organization, including dispute settle10 ment actions, consultations, or nego11 tiations; and 

12 ‘‘(v) a description of— 

13 ‘‘(I) any funds provided under 

14 subsection (f)(3)(A)(iv) that were not 

15 obligated in the fiscal year preceding 

16 submission of the report; and 

17 ‘‘(II) the reason such funds were 

18 not obligated. 

19 ‘‘(C) COMMENT PERIOD.—Before pre20 paring the report required by subparagraph 

21 (A), the Secretary, in coordination with the 

22 United States Trade Representative, shall— 

23 ‘‘(i) seek comment from the public 

24 and the Agricultural Technical Advisory 

5 

•HR 6399 IH

1 Committee for Trade in Fruits and Vege2 tables; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) take such comments into account 

4 in preparing the report. 

5 ‘‘(D) FORM OF REPORT.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The report re7 quired by subparagraph (A) shall be sub8 mitted in unclassified form, but may in9 clude a classified annex. 

10 ‘‘(ii) PUBLIC AVAILABILITY.—The un11 classified portion of the report required by 

12 subparagraph (A) shall be made available 

13 to the public in machine readable format.’’. 

Æ