II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 125 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 26, 2023 

Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. BUDD, and Mr. VANCE) 

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 

Committee on Finance 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Act of 2023’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. WITHDRAWAL OF NORMAL TRADE RELATIONS 

2 TREATMENT FROM THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC 

3 OF CHINA. 

4 Notwithstanding the provisions of title I of Public 

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

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

7 (1) normal trade relations treatment shall not 

8 apply pursuant to section 101 of that Act to the 

9 products of the People’s Republic of China; 

10 (2) normal trade relations treatment may there11 after be extended to the products of the People’s Re12 public of China only in accordance with the provi13 sions of chapter 1 of title IV of the Trade Act of 

14 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2431 et seq.), as in effect with re15 spect to the products of the People’s Republic of 

16 China on the day before the effective date of the ac17 cession of the People’s Republic of China to the 

18 World Trade Organization; and 

19 (3) the extension of waiver authority that was 

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

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

22 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2432(d)(1)) on the day before the 

23 effective date of the accession of the People’s Repub24 lic of China to the World Trade Organization shall, 

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

26 have expired, and shall continue in effect until the 


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1 date that is 90 days after the date of such enact2 ment. 

3 SEC. 3. EXPANSION OF BASES OF INELIGIBILITY OF PEO4 PLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA FOR NORMAL 

5 TRADE RELATIONS. 

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

7 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2432) is amended— 

8 (1) in the section heading, by striking ‘‘FREE9 DOM OF EMIGRATION IN EAST-WEST TRADE’’ 

10 and inserting ‘‘EAST-WEST TRADE AND HUMAN

11 RIGHTS’’; and 

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

13 ‘‘(f) ADDITIONAL BASES OF INELIGIBILITY OF PEO14 PLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA FOR NORMAL TRADE RELA15 TIONS.— 

16 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Products of the People’s 

17 Republic of China shall not be eligible to receive 

18 nondiscriminatory treatment (normal trade rela19 tions), the People’s Republic of China shall not par20 ticipate in any program of the Government of the 

21 United States which extends credits or credit guar22 antees or investment guarantees, directly or indi23 rectly, and the President shall not conclude any 

24 commercial agreement with the People’s Republic of 

25 China, during the period— 


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

2 President determines that the People’s Republic 

3 of China— 

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

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

6 ‘‘(ii) uses or provides for the use of 

7 slave labor; 

8 ‘‘(iii) operates ‘vocational training and 

9 education centers’ or other concentration 

10 camps where people are held against their 

11 will; 

12 ‘‘(iv) performs or otherwise orders 

13 forced abortion or sterilization procedures; 

14 ‘‘(v) harvests the organs of prisoners 

15 without their consent; 

16 ‘‘(vi) hinders the free exercise of reli17 gion; 

18 ‘‘(vii) intimidates or harasses nation19 als of the People’s Republic of China living 

20 outside the People’s Republic of China; or 

21 ‘‘(viii) engages in systematic economic 

22 espionage against the United States, in23 cluding theft of the intellectual property of 

24 United States persons; and 


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

2 President determines that the People’s Republic 

3 of China is no longer in violation of any of 

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

5 ‘‘(2) REPORT REQUIRED.— 

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

7 enactment of this subsection, products of the 

8 People’s Republic of China may be eligible to 

9 receive nondiscriminatory treatment (normal 

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

11 may participate in any program of the Govern12 ment of the United States which extends credits 

13 or credit guarantees or investment guarantees, 

14 and the President may conclude a commercial 

15 agreement with the People’s Republic of China, 

16 only after the President has submitted to Con17 gress a report indicating that the People’s Re18 public of China is not in violation of any of 

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

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

21 subparagraph (A) shall include information as 

22 to the nature and implementation of laws and 

23 policies of the People’s Republic of China relat24 ing to the matters specified in clauses (i) 

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


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

2 subparagraph (A) shall be submitted on or be3 fore each June 30 and December 31 of each 

4 year for as long as products of the People’s Re5 public of China receive nondiscriminatory treat6 ment (normal trade relations), the People’s Re7 public of China participates in any program of 

8 the Government of the United States which ex9 tends credits or credit guarantees or investment 

10 guarantees, or a commercial agreement with the 

11 People’s Republic of China is in effect. 

12 ‘‘(3) WAIVER.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The President is au14 thorized to waive by Executive order the appli15 cation of paragraphs (1) and (2) for a 12- 

16 month period if the President submits to Con17 gress a report that the President— 

18 ‘‘(i) has determined that such waiver 

19 will substantially promote the objectives of 

20 this subsection; and 

21 ‘‘(ii) has received assurances that the 

22 practices of the People’s Republic of China 

23 relating to the matters specified in clauses 

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

25 in the future lead substantially to the 


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1 achievement of the objectives of this sub2 section. 

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

4 under subparagraph (A) shall terminate on the 

5 earlier of— 

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

7 granted by this paragraph ceases to be ef8 fective under paragraph (4); or 

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

10 order providing for termination of the 

11 waiver. 

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

13 ‘‘(A) RECOMMENDATIONS.—If the Presi14 dent determines that the further extension of 

15 the waiver authority granted under paragraph 

16 (3) will substantially promote the objectives of 

17 this subsection, the President may recommend 

18 further extensions of such authority for succes19 sive 12-month periods. Any such recommenda20 tions shall— 

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

22 before the expiration of such authority; 

23 ‘‘(ii) be made in a document sub24 mitted to the House of Representatives 

25 and the Senate setting forth the reasons of 


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1 the President for recommending the exten2 sion of such authority; and 

3 ‘‘(iii) include— 

4 ‘‘(I) a determination that con5 tinuation of the waiver will substan6 tially promote the objectives of this 

7 subsection; and 

8 ‘‘(II) a statement setting forth 

9 the reasons of the President for such 

10 determination. 

11 ‘‘(B) CONTINUATION IN EFFECT OF WAIV12 ER.—If the President recommends under sub13 paragraph (A) the further extension of the 

14 waiver authority granted under paragraph (3), 

15 such authority shall continue in effect until the 

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

17 the previous 12-month extension, unless— 

18 ‘‘(i) Congress adopts and transmits to 

19 the President a joint resolution of dis20 approval under paragraph (5) before the 

21 end of the 60-day period beginning on the 

22 date the waiver authority would expire but 

23 for an extension under subparagraph (A); 

24 and 


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

2 resolution, each House of Congress votes 

3 to override the veto on or before the later 

4 of— 

5 ‘‘(I) the last day of the 60-day 

6 period referred to in clause (i); or 

7 ‘‘(II) the last day of the 15-day 

8 period (excluding any day described in 

9 section 154(b)) beginning on the date 

10 on which Congress receives the veto 

11 message from the President. 

12 ‘‘(C) TERMINATION OF WAIVER PURSUANT

13 TO JOINT RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL.—If a 

14 joint resolution of disapproval is enacted into 

15 law pursuant to paragraph (5), the waiver au16 thority granted under paragraph (3) shall cease 

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

18 period beginning on the date of the enactment 

19 of the joint resolution. 

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

21 ‘‘(A) JOINT RESOLUTION OF DISAPPROVAL

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

23 resolution of disapproval’ means a joint resolu24 tion the matter after the resolving clause of 

25 which is as follows: ‘That Congress does not apVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:10 Feb 03, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S125.IS S125

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1 prove the extension of the authority contained 

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

3 Act of 1974 with respect to the People’s Repub4 lic of China recommended by the President to 

5 Congress under paragraph (4) of that section 

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

7 with the appropriate date. 

8 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURES IN HOUSE AND SEN9 ATE.—The provisions of subsections (b) 

10 through (f) of section 152 shall apply with re11 spect to a joint resolution of approval to the 

12 same extent and in the same manner as such 

13 provisions apply with respect to a resolution de14 scribed in subsection (a) of that section, except 

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

16 applied and administered by substituting ‘Con17 sideration’ for ‘Debate’. 

18 ‘‘(C) RULES OF THE HOUSE OF REP19 RESENTATIVES AND SENATE.—This paragraph 

20 is enacted by Congress— 

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

22 power of the House of Representatives and 

23 the Senate, respectively, and as such is 

24 deemed a part of the rules of each House, 

25 respectively, and supersedes other rules 


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1 only to the extent that it is inconsistent 

2 with such other rules; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) with full recognition of the con4 stitutional right of either House to change 

5 the rules (so far as relating to the proce6 dure of that House) at any time, in the 

7 same manner and to the same extent as in 

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

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

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

11 relating to section 402 and inserting the following: 

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

Æ 


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