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[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3292 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

112th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3292

    To require the United States International Trade Commission to 
 recommend temporary duty suspensions and reductions to Congress, and 
                          for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 13, 2012

 Mrs. McCaskill (for herself, Mr. Portman, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Kyl, Mr. 
Hoeven, Mr. Risch, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Coats, Mr. DeMint, Mr. Vitter, Mr. 
Enzi, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Cochran, Mr. Isakson, Mr. Toomey, Mr. Johnson of 
 Wisconsin, Mr. Graham, Mrs. Hutchison, Mr. Sessions, Mr. Coburn, and 
  Mr. McCain) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
                  referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

 
    To require the United States International Trade Commission to 
 recommend temporary duty suspensions and reductions to Congress, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Temporary Duty Suspension Process 
Act of 2012''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Appropriate congressional committees.--The term 
        ``appropriate congressional committees'' means the Committee on 
        Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means of 
        the House of Representatives.
            (2) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the United 
        States International Trade Commission.
            (3) Duty suspension or reduction.--The term ``duty 
        suspension or reduction'' means an amendment to subchapter II 
        of chapter 99 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United 
        States--
                    (A) extending an existing temporary suspension or 
                reduction of duty on an article under that subchapter; 
                or
                    (B) providing for a new temporary suspension or 
                reduction of duty on an article under that subchapter.

SEC. 3. RECOMMENDATIONS BY UNITED STATES INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION 
              FOR DUTY SUSPENSIONS AND REDUCTIONS.

    (a) Establishment of Review Process.--Not later than 30 days after 
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission shall complete 
all actions necessary to establish a process pursuant to which the 
Commission will--
            (1) review each article with respect to which a duty 
        suspension or reduction may be made--
                    (A) at the initiative of the Commission; or
                    (B) pursuant to a petition submitted or referred to 
                the Commission under subsection (b); and
            (2) submit a draft bill to the appropriate congressional 
        committees under subsection (d).
    (b) Petitions.--
            (1) In general.--As part of the process established under 
        subsection (a), the Commission shall establish procedures under 
        which a petition requesting the Commission to review a duty 
        suspension or reduction pursuant to that process may be--
                    (A) submitted to the Commission by a member of the 
                public; or
                    (B) referred to the Commission by a Member of 
                Congress.
            (2) Requirements.--A petition submitted or referred to the 
        Commission under paragraph (1) shall be submitted or referred 
        at such time and in such manner and shall include such 
        information as the Commission may require.
            (3) No preferential treatment for members of congress.--A 
        petition referred to the Commission by a Member of Congress 
        under subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) shall receive treatment 
        no more favorable than the treatment received by a petition 
        submitted to the Commission by a member of the public under 
        subparagraph (A) of that paragraph.
    (c) Public Comments.--As part of the process established under 
subsection (a), the Commission shall establish procedures for--
            (1) notifying the public when the Commission initiates the 
        process of reviewing articles with respect to which duty 
        suspensions or reductions may be made and distributing 
        information about the process, including by--
                    (A) posting information about the process on the 
                website of the Commission; and
                    (B) providing that information to trade 
                associations and other appropriate organizations;
            (2) not later than 45 days before submitting a draft bill 
        to the appropriate congressional committees under subsection 
        (d), notifying the public of the duty suspensions and 
        reductions the Commission is considering including in the draft 
        bill; and
            (3) providing the public with an opportunity to submit 
        comments with respect to any of those duty suspensions or 
        reductions.
    (d) Submission of Draft Bill.--
            (1) In general.--The Commission shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a draft bill that contains 
        each duty suspension or reduction that the Commission 
        determines, pursuant to the process established under 
        subsection (a) and after conducting the consultations required 
        by subsection (e), meets the requirements described in 
        subsection (f), not later than--
                    (A) the date that is 120 days after the date of the 
                enactment of this Act;
                    (B) January 1, 2015; and
                    (C) January 1, 2018.
            (2) Effective period of duty suspensions and reductions.--
        Duty suspensions and reductions included in a draft bill 
        submitted under paragraph (1) shall be effective for a period 
        of not less than 3 years.
            (3) Special rule for first submission.--In the draft bill 
        required to be submitted under paragraph (1) not later than the 
        date that is 120 days after the date of the enactment of this 
        Act, the Commission shall be required to include only duty 
        suspensions and reductions with respect to which the Commission 
        has sufficient time to make a determination under that 
        paragraph before the draft bill is required to be submitted.
    (e) Consultations.--In determining whether a duty suspension or 
reduction meets the requirements described in subsection (f), the 
Commission shall, not later than 30 days before submitting a draft bill 
to the appropriate congressional committees under subsection (d), 
conduct consultations with the Commissioner responsible for U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection, the Secretary of Commerce, the United 
States Trade Representative, and the heads of other relevant Federal 
agencies.
    (f) Requirements for Duty Suspensions and Reductions.--
            (1) In general.--A duty suspension or reduction meets the 
        requirements described in this subsection if--
                    (A) the duty suspension or reduction can be 
                administered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
                    (B) the estimated loss in revenue to the United 
                States from the duty suspension or reduction does not 
                exceed the dollar amount specified in paragraph (2) in 
                a calendar year during which the duty suspension or 
                reduction would be in effect; and
                    (C) on the date on which the Commission submits a 
                draft bill to the appropriate congressional committees 
                under subsection (d) that includes the duty suspension 
                or reduction, the article to which the duty suspension 
                or reduction would apply is not produced in the United 
                States and is not expected to be produced in the United 
                States during the subsequent 12-month period.
            (2) Dollar amount specified.--
                    (A) In general.--The dollar amount specified in 
                this paragraph is--
                            (i) for calendar year 2013, $500,000; and
                            (ii) for any calendar year after calendar 
                        year 2013, an amount equal to $500,000 
                        increased or decreased by an amount equal to--
                                    (I) $500,000, multiplied by
                                    (II) the percentage (if any) of the 
                                increase or decrease (as the case may 
                                be) in the Consumer Price Index for the 
                                preceding calendar year compared to the 
                                Consumer Price Index for calendar year 
                                2012.
                    (B) Rounding.--Any increase or decrease under 
                subparagraph (A) of the dollar amount specified in this 
                paragraph shall be rounded to the nearest dollar.
                    (C) Consumer price index for any calendar year.--
                For purposes of this paragraph, the Consumer Price 
                Index for any calendar year is the average of the 
                Consumer Price Index as of the close of the 12-month 
                period ending on September 30 of that calendar year.
                    (D) Consumer price index defined.--For purposes of 
                this paragraph, the term ``Consumer Price Index'' means 
                the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers 
                published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the 
                Department of Labor.
            (3) Consideration of relevant information.--In determining 
        whether a duty suspension or reduction meets the requirements 
        described in paragraph (1), the Commission may consider any 
        information the Commission considers relevant to the 
        determination.
            (4) Judicial review precluded.--A determination of the 
        Commission with respect to whether or not a duty suspension or 
        reduction meets the requirements described in paragraph (1) 
        shall not be subject to judicial review.
    (g) Reports Required.--
            (1) In general.--Each time the Commission submits a draft 
        bill under subsection (d), the Commission shall submit to the 
        appropriate congressional committees a report on the duty 
        suspensions and reductions contained in the draft bill that 
        includes--
                    (A) the views of the head of each agency consulted 
                under subsection (e); and
                    (B) any objections received by the Commission 
                during consultations conducted under subsection (e) or 
                through public comments submitted under subsection (c), 
                including--
                            (i) objections with respect to duty 
                        suspensions or reductions the Commission 
                        included in the draft bill; and
                            (ii) objections that led to the Commission 
                        to determine not to include a duty suspension 
                        or reduction in the draft bill.
            (2) Initial report on process.--Not later than 300 days 
        after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Commission 
        shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
        report that includes--
                    (A) an assessment of the effectiveness of the 
                process established under subsection (a) and the 
                requirements of this section;
                    (B) to the extent practicable, a description of the 
                effects of duty suspensions and reductions recommended 
                pursuant to that process on the United States economy 
                that includes--
                            (i) a broad assessment of the economic 
                        effects of such duty suspensions and reductions 
                        on producers, purchasers, and consumers in the 
                        United States; and
                            (ii) case studies describing such effects 
                        by industry or by type of articles, as 
                        available data permits;
                    (C) a comparison of the actual loss in revenue to 
                the United States resulting from duty suspensions and 
                reductions recommended pursuant to that process to the 
                loss in such revenue estimated during that process;
                    (D) to the extent practicable, information on how 
                broadly or narrowly duty suspensions and reductions 
                recommended pursuant to that process were used by 
                importers; and
                    (E) any recommendations of the Commission for 
                improving that process and the requirements of this 
                section.
    (h) Form of Draft Bill and Reports.--Each draft bill submitted 
under subsection (d) and each report required by subsection (g) shall 
be--
            (1) submitted to the appropriate congressional committees 
        in electronic form; and
            (2) made available to the public on the website of the 
        Commission.

SEC. 4. REPORTS ON BENEFITS OF DUTY SUSPENSIONS OR REDUCTIONS TO 
              SECTORS OF THE UNITED STATES ECONOMY.

    Not later than January 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, the 
Commission shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a 
report that--
            (1) makes recommendations with respect to sectors of the 
        United States economy that could benefit from duty suspensions 
        or reductions without causing harm to other domestic interests; 
        and
            (2) assesses the feasibility and advisability of suspending 
        or reducing duties on a sectoral basis rather than on 
        individual articles.
                                 <all>
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