I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8610 

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 

OCTOBER 16, 2020 

Mr. SMITH of New Jersey 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 2020’’. 

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 18:51 Nov 03, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8610.IH H8610

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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 

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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) uses or provides for the use of 

10 slave labor; 

11 ‘‘(iii) operates ‘vocational training and 

12 education centers’ or other concentration 

13 camps where people are held against their 

14 will; 

15 ‘‘(iv) performs or otherwise orders 

16 forced abortion or sterilization procedures; 

17 ‘‘(v) harvests the organs of prisoners 

18 without their consent; 

19 ‘‘(vi) hinders the free exercise of reli20 gion; 

21 ‘‘(vii) intimidates or harasses nation22 als of the People’s Republic of China living 

23 outside the People’s Republic of China; or 

24 ‘‘(viii) engages in systematic economic 

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1 cluding theft of the intellectual property of 

2 United States persons; and 

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

4 President determines that the People’s Republic 

5 of China is no longer in violation of any of 

6 clauses (i) through (viii) of subparagraph (A). 

7 ‘‘(2) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

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

9 enactment of this subsection, products of the 

10 People’s Republic of China may be eligible to 

11 receive nondiscriminatory treatment (normal 

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

13 may participate in any program of the Govern14 ment of the United States which extends credits 

15 or credit guarantees or investment guarantees, 

16 and the President may conclude a commercial 

17 agreement with the People’s Republic of China, 

18 only after the President has submitted to Con19 gress a report indicating that the People’s Re20 public of China is not in violation of any of 

21 clauses (i) through (viii) of paragraph (1)(A). 

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

23 subparagraph (A) shall include information as 

24 to the nature and implementation of laws and 

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1 ing to the matters specified in clauses (i) 

2 through (viii) of paragraph (1)(A). 

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

4 subparagraph (A) shall be submitted on or be5 fore each June 30 and December 31 of each 

6 year for as long as products of the People’s Re7 public of China receive nondiscriminatory treat8 ment (normal trade relations), the People’s Re9 public of China participates in any program of 

10 the Government of the United States which ex11 tends credits or credit guarantees or investment 

12 guarantees, or a commercial agreement with the 

13 People’s Republic of China is in effect. 

14 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President is au16 thorized to waive by Executive order the appli17 cation of paragraphs (1) and (2) for a 12- 

18 month period if the President submits to Con19 gress a report that the President— 

20 ‘‘(i) has determined that such waiver 

21 will substantially promote the objectives of 

22 this subsection; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) has received assurances that the 

24 practices of the People’s Republic of China 

25 relating to the matters specified in clauses 


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1 (i) through (viii) of paragraph (1)(A) will 

2 in the future lead substantially to the 

3 achievement of the objectives of this sub4 section. 

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

6 under subparagraph (A) shall terminate on the 

7 earlier of— 

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

9 granted by this paragraph ceases to be ef10 fective under paragraph (4); or 

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

12 order providing for termination of the 

13 waiver. 

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

15 ‘‘(A) RECOMMENDATIONS.—If the Presi16 dent determines that the further extension of 

17 the waiver authority granted under paragraph 

18 (3) will substantially promote the objectives of 

19 this subsection, the President may recommend 

20 further extensions of such authority for succes21 sive 12-month periods. Any such recommenda22 tions shall— 

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

24 before the expiration of such authority; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) be made in a document sub2 mitted to the House of Representatives 

3 and the Senate setting forth the reasons of 

4 the President for recommending the exten5 sion of such authority; and 

6 ‘‘(iii) include— 

7 ‘‘(I) a determination that con8 tinuation of the waiver will substan9 tially promote the objectives of this 

10 subsection; and 

11 ‘‘(II) a statement setting forth 

12 the reasons of the President for such 

13 determination. 

14 ‘‘(B) CONTINUATION IN EFFECT OF WAIV15 ER.—If the President recommends under sub16 paragraph (A) the further extension of the 

17 waiver authority granted under paragraph (3), 

18 such authority shall continue in effect until the 

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

20 the previous 12-month extension, unless— 

21 ‘‘(i) Congress adopts and transmits to 

22 the President a joint resolution of dis23 approval under paragraph (5) before the 

24 end of the 60-day period beginning on the 

25 date the waiver authority would expire but 


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1 for an extension under subparagraph (A); 

2 and 

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

4 resolution, each House of Congress votes 

5 to override the veto on or before the later 

6 of— 

7 ‘‘(I) the last day of the 60-day 

8 period referred to in clause (i); or 

9 ‘‘(II) the last day of the 15-day 

10 period (excluding any day described in 

11 section 154(b)) beginning on the date 

12 on which Congress receives the veto 

13 message from the President. 

14 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION OF WAIVER PURSUANT

15 TO JOINT RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL.—If a 

16 joint resolution of disapproval is enacted into 

17 law pursuant to paragraph (5), the waiver au18 thority granted under paragraph (3) shall cease 

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

20 period beginning on the date of the enactment 

21 of the joint resolution. 

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

23 ‘‘(A) JOINT RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL

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

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1 tion the matter after the resolving clause of 

2 which is as follows: ‘That Congress does not ap3 prove the extension of the authority contained 

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

5 Act of 1974 with respect to the People’s Repub6 lic of China recommended by the President to 

7 Congress under paragraph (4) of that section 

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

9 with the appropriate date. 

10 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES IN HOUSE AND SEN11 ATE.—The provisions of subsections (b) 

12 through (f) of section 152 shall apply with re13 spect to a joint resolution of approval to the 

14 same extent and in the same manner as such 

15 provisions apply with respect to a resolution de16 scribed in subsection (a) of that section, except 

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

18 applied and administered by substituting ‘Con19 sideration’ for ‘Debate’. 

20 ‘‘(C) RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REP21 RESENTATIVES AND SENATE.—This paragraph 

22 is enacted by Congress— 

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

24 power of the House of Representatives and 

25 the Senate, respectively, and as such is 


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1 deemed a part of the rules of each House, 

2 respectively, and supersedes other rules 

3 only to the extent that it is inconsistent 

4 with such other rules; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) with full recognition of the con6 stitutional right of either House to change 

7 the rules (so far as relating to the proce8 dure of that House) at any time, in the 

9 same manner and to the same extent as in 

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

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

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

13 relating to section 402 and inserting the following: 

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

Æ 


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