I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 8884 

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to modify and extend the Generalized 

System of Preferences, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 7, 2020 

Mr. BLUMENAUER (for himself, Ms. SEWELL of Alabama, and Ms. MOORE) 

introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on 

Ways and Means 

A BILL 

To amend the Trade Act of 1974 to modify and extend 

the Generalized System of Preferences, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. MODIFICATION AND EXTENSION OF GENERAL4 IZED SYSTEM OF PREFERENCES. 

5 (a) DESIGNATION OF BENEFICIARY DEVELOPING

6 COUNTRIES.—Section 502 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

7 U.S.C. 2462) is amended— 

8 (1) in subsection (b)(2)— 


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1 (A) by inserting after subparagraph (H) 

2 the following: 

3 ‘‘(I) Such country engages in gross viola4 tions of internationally recognized human rights 

5 in that country (including any designated zone 

6 in that country). 

7 ‘‘(J) Such country has failed to effectively 

8 enforce its environmental laws, regulations, or 

9 other measures, or to fulfill its international en10 vironmental obligations, including as such obli11 gations relate to public health.’’; and 

12 (B) in the text following subparagraph (J) 

13 (as so inserted), by striking ‘‘and (H) (to the 

14 extent described in section 507(6)(D))’’ and in15 serting ‘‘(H) (to the extent described in section 

16 507(6)(D)), (I), and (J)’’; 

17 (2) in subsection (c)— 

18 (A) in paragraph (6)(B), by striking ‘‘; 

19 and’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

20 (B) in paragraph (7), by striking the pe21 riod at the end and inserting a semicolon; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(8) the extent to which such country effec24 tively enforces its environmental laws, regulations, 

25 and other measures, and fulfills its international enVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:12 Dec 15, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8884.IH H8884

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1 vironmental obligations, including as such obliga2 tions relate to public health; and 

3 ‘‘(9) the extent to which such country has es4 tablished, or is making continual progress toward es5 tablishing— 

6 ‘‘(A) the rule of law, political pluralism, 

7 and the right to due process, a fair trial, and 

8 equal protection under the law; 

9 ‘‘(B) economic policies to reduce poverty, 

10 increase the availability of health care and edu11 cational opportunities, expand physical infra12 structure, promote the development of private 

13 enterprise, and encourage the formation of cap14 ital markets through micro-credit or other pro15 grams; and 

16 ‘‘(C) a system to combat corruption and 

17 bribery, such as signing and implementing the 

18 Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign 

19 Public Officials in International Business 

20 Transactions.’’; and 

21 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

22 ‘‘(g) ASSESSMENT AND REPORT ON COMPLIANCE

23 WITH ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS.— 

24 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall— 

25 ‘‘(A) on an annual basis— 


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1 ‘‘(i) conduct assessments on compli2 ance of an appropriate number of countries 

3 designated as beneficiary developing coun4 tries for purposes of this title in meeting 

5 or continuing to meet their eligibility re6 quirements under this title; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) make determinations whether to 

8 self-initiate full country practice reviews of 

9 those countries’ continued eligibility under 

10 this title; and 

11 ‘‘(B) submit to Congress a report con12 sisting of the results of such assessments and 

13 determinations. 

14 ‘‘(2) FREQUENCY.—The President shall con15 duct an assessment described in clause (i) of para16 graph (1)(A) and make a determination described in 

17 clause (ii) of such paragraph with respect to each 

18 country designated as a beneficiary developing coun19 try for purposes of this title not less frequently than 

20 once every 3 years.’’. 

21 (b) SUPPLEMENTAL REVIEW AND REPORTING.— 

22 (1) POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES.—It is the 

23 policy of the United States to support gender equal24 ity and worker rights by promoting legal reforms 

25 that address legal, structural, and social barriers 


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1 that constrain the full and free economic participa2 tion of all workers in the global economy. 

3 (2) REVIEW OF LAWS.— 

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Title V of the Trade 

5 Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.) is amend6 ed by inserting after section 504 the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 504A. REVIEW OF LAWS RELATING TO INTERNATION8 ALLY RECOGNIZED WORKER RIGHTS AND 

9 EQUAL RIGHTS AND PROTECTION UNDER 

10 THE LAW. 

11 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than May 1, 2021, and 

12 annually thereafter, the United States Trade Representa13 tive and the Deputy Undersecretary of Labor for Inter14 national Affairs, in consultation with the policy advisory 

15 committee on labor established under section 135(c)(1), 

16 shall jointly— 

17 ‘‘(1) review the laws of each beneficiary devel18 oping country relating to internationally recognized 

19 worker rights and the affording of equal rights and 

20 protection under the law, regardless of gender, in 

21 each of the categories described in subsection (b); 

22 ‘‘(2) assess the legal rights and protections af23 forded in such countries; and 


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1 ‘‘(3) submit to Congress a report on the laws 

2 of and legal rights and protections afforded in such 

3 countries. 

4 ‘‘(b) CATEGORIES DESCRIBED.—The categories de5 scribed in this subsection are the following: 

6 ‘‘(1) Internationally recognized worker rights. 

7 ‘‘(2) Mobility. 

8 ‘‘(3) Employment conditions, benefits and pay, 

9 including equal pay for equal work and removal of 

10 employment restrictions. 

11 ‘‘(4) Entrepreneurship. 

12 ‘‘(5) Assets, including property and inheritance 

13 rights. 

14 ‘‘(6) Equal access to education. 

15 ‘‘(7) Access to institutions. 

16 ‘‘(8) Protections from violence and harassment, 

17 including gender-based violence and harassment. 

18 ‘‘(9) Marriage, divorce, and child custody. 

19 ‘‘(c) METHODOLOGY AND SOURCES.—The report re20 quired by subsection (a)(3) shall include— 

21 ‘‘(1) an explanation of the methodology and 

22 sources used for the conduct of reviews under sub23 section (a)(1) and the conduct of assessments under 

24 subsection (a)(2); and 


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1 ‘‘(2) where relevant, citations to data, informa2 tion, studies, and assessments that were used to pre3 pare the report and were gathered, compiled, or de4 veloped by the United States Government, foreign 

5 governments, multilateral institutions, nongovern6 mental organizations, or educational institutions. 

7 ‘‘(d) MEASUREMENT OF WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EM8 POWERMENT.—To support the measurement of women’s 

9 economic empowerment, the Trade Representative shall 

10 encourage and support the reporting by beneficiary devel11 oping countries of sex-disaggregated economic and busi12 ness data, including the gathering of information con13 sistent with the United Nations Sustainable Development 

14 Goals, particularly the goals relating to gender equality 

15 and decent work.’’. 

16 (B) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of 

17 contents for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended 

18 by inserting after the item relating to section 

19 504 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 504A. Review of laws relating to internationally recognized worker rights 

and equal rights and protection under the law.’’. 

20 (c) EXTENSION OF GENERALIZED SYSTEM OF PREF21 ERENCES.—Section 505 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

22 U.S.C. 2465) is amended by striking ‘‘December 31, 

23 2020’’ and inserting ‘‘June 30, 2021’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMIS2 SION STUDY. 

3 Not later than May 1, 2021, the United States Inter4 national Trade Commission shall submit to Congress a re5 port that contains a study on rules of origin and the utili6 zation rates under the Generalized System of Preferences 

7 program under title V of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

8 U.S.C. 2461 et seq.), including an assessment of— 

9 (1) the utilization rates of least-developed bene10 ficiary developing countries under the program; and 

11 (2) the effectiveness of the program’s rules of 

12 origin in promoting trade benefits to least-developed 

13 beneficiary developing countries under the program 

14 and preventing the transshipment of products from 

15 countries that are not beneficiary developing coun16 tries under the program. 

Æ 


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