II 

112TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 708 

To renew and extend the provisions relating to identification of trade 

enforcement priorities, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 31, 2011 

Mr. BROWN of Ohio (for himself, Ms. STABENOW, and Mr. CASEY) introduced 

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

on Finance 

A BILL 

To renew and extend the provisions relating to identification 

of trade enforcement priorities, 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 ‘‘Trade Enforcement 

5 Priorities Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. IDENTIFICATION OF TRADE ENFORCEMENT PRIOR7 ITIES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 310 of the Trade Act of 

9 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2420) is amended to read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 310. IDENTIFICATION OF TRADE ENFORCEMENT PRI2 ORITIES. 

3 ‘‘(a) IDENTIFICATION AND ANNUAL REPORT.—Not 

4 later than 75 days after the date that the National Trade 

5 Estimate under section 181(b) is required to be submitted 

6 each calendar year, the United States Trade Representa7 tive shall— 

8 ‘‘(1) identify the trade enforcement priorities of 

9 the United States; 

10 ‘‘(2) identify trade enforcement actions that the 

11 United States has taken during the previous year 

12 and provide an assessment of the impact those en13 forcement actions have had in addressing foreign 

14 trade barriers; 

15 ‘‘(3) identify the priority foreign country trade 

16 practices on which the Trade Representative will 

17 focus the trade enforcement efforts of the United 

18 States during the upcoming year; and 

19 ‘‘(4) submit to the Committee on Finance of 

20 the Senate and the Committee on Ways and Means 

21 of the House of Representatives and publish in the 

22 Federal Register a report on the priorities, actions, 

23 assessments, and practices identified in paragraphs 

24 (1), (2), and (3). 


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1 ‘‘(b) FACTORS TO CONSIDER.—In identifying pri2 ority foreign country trade practices under subsection 

3 (a)(3), the Trade Representative shall— 

4 ‘‘(1) focus on those practices the elimination of 

5 which is likely to have the most significant potential 

6 to increase United States economic growth; and 

7 ‘‘(2) concentrate on United States trading part8 ners— 

9 ‘‘(A) that represent the largest trade def10 icit in dollar value with the United States, ex11 cluding petroleum and petroleum products; 

12 ‘‘(B) whose practices have the most nega13 tive impact on maintaining and creating United 

14 States jobs, wages, and productive capacity; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(C) whose practices limit market access 

17 for United States goods and services; and 

18 ‘‘(3) take into account all relevant factors, in19 cluding— 

20 ‘‘(A) the major barriers and trade dis21 torting practices described in the most recent 

22 National Trade Estimate required under section 

23 181(b); 

24 ‘‘(B) the findings and practices described 

25 in the most recent report required under— 


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1 ‘‘(i) section 182; 

2 ‘‘(ii) section 1377 of the Omnibus 

3 Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 

4 (19 U.S.C. 3106); 

5 ‘‘(iii) section 3005 of the Omnibus 

6 Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988 

7 (22 U.S.C. 5305); and 

8 ‘‘(iv) section 421 of the U.S.-China 

9 Relations Act of 2000 (22 U.S.C. 6951); 

10 ‘‘(C) the findings and practices described 

11 in any other report addressing international 

12 trade and investment barriers prepared by the 

13 Trade Representative, the Department of Com14 merce, the Department of Labor, the Depart15 ment of Agriculture, and the Department of 

16 State, or any other agency or congressional 

17 commission during the 12 months preceding the 

18 date on which the report described in subsection 

19 (a)(4) is required to be submitted; 

20 ‘‘(D) a foreign country’s compliance with 

21 its obligations under any trade agreements to 

22 which both the foreign country and the United 

23 States are parties; 


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1 ‘‘(E) a foreign country’s compliance with 

2 its obligations under internationally recognized 

3 sanitary and phytosanitary standards; 

4 ‘‘(F) the international competitive position 

5 and export potential of United States products 

6 and services; and 

7 ‘‘(G) the enforcement of customs laws re8 lating to anticircumvention and transshipment. 

9 ‘‘(c) CONSULTATION.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

11 after the date that the National Trade Estimate 

12 under section 181(b) is required to be submitted, the 

13 Trade Representative shall consult with the Com14 mittee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee 

15 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 

16 with respect to the priorities, actions, assessments, 

17 and practices required to be identified in the report 

18 under subsection (a). 

19 ‘‘(2) VOTE OF COMMITTEE.—If, as a result of 

20 the consultations described in paragraph (1), either 

21 the Committee on Finance of the Senate or the 

22 Committee on Ways and Means of the House of 

23 Representatives requests identification of a priority 

24 foreign country trade practice by majority vote of 

25 the Committee, the Trade Representative shall inVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:52 Apr 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S708.IS S708

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1 clude such identification in the report required 

2 under subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(3) DETERMINATION NOT TO INCLUDE PRI4 ORITY FOREIGN COUNTRY TRADE PRACTICES.—The 

5 Trade Representative may determine not to include 

6 the priority foreign country trade practice requested 

7 under paragraph (2) in the report required under 

8 subsection (a) only if the Trade Representative finds 

9 that— 

10 ‘‘(A) such practice is already being ad11 dressed under provisions of United States trade 

12 law, under the Uruguay Round Agreements (as 

13 defined in section 2(7) of the Uruguay Round 

14 Agreements Act (19 U.S.C. 3501(7))), under a 

15 bilateral or regional trade agreement, or as part 

16 of trade negotiations with that foreign country 

17 or other countries, and progress is being made 

18 toward the elimination of such practice; or 

19 ‘‘(B) identification of such practice as a 

20 priority foreign country trade practice would be 

21 contrary to the interests of United States trade 

22 policy. 

23 ‘‘(4) REASONS FOR DETERMINATION.—In the 

24 case of a determination made pursuant to paragraph 

25 (3), the Trade Representative shall set forth in deVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:52 Apr 02, 2011 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S708.IS S708

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1 tail the reasons for that determination in the report 

2 required under subsection (a). 

3 ‘‘(5) REPORT TO BE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE.— 

4 The Trade Representative shall publish the report 

5 required under subsection (a) in the Federal Reg6 ister. 

7 ‘‘(d) INVESTIGATION AND RESOLUTION.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

9 after the report required under subsection (a) is sub10 mitted, the Trade Representative shall engage in ne11 gotiations with the country concerned in accordance 

12 with paragraph (2) or (3), as the case may be, to 

13 resolve the practices identified in the report. 

14 ‘‘(2) ACTIONS WITH RESPECT TO PRACTICES OF

15 MEMBERS OF THE WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION OR

16 COUNTRIES WITH WHICH THE UNITED STATES HAS

17 A TRADE AGREEMENT IN EFFECT.—In the case of 

18 any priority foreign country trade practice identified 

19 under subsection (a) of a country that is a member 

20 of the World Trade Organization or a country with 

21 which the United States has a bilateral or regional 

22 trade agreement in effect, the Trade Representative 

23 shall, not later than 120 days after the date that the 

24 report described in subsection (a) is submitted— 


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1 ‘‘(A)(i) initiate dispute settlement consulta2 tions in the World Trade Organization; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) initiate dispute settlement consulta4 tions under the applicable provisions of the bi5 lateral or regional trade agreement; 

6 ‘‘(B) seek to negotiate an agreement that 

7 provides for the elimination of the priority for8 eign country trade practice or, if elimination of 

9 the practice is not feasible, an agreement that 

10 provides for compensatory trade benefits; or 

11 ‘‘(C) take any other action necessary to fa12 cilitate the elimination of the priority foreign 

13 country trade practice. 

14 ‘‘(3) ACTIONS WITH RESPECT TO PRACTICES OF

15 OTHER COUNTRIES.—In the case of any priority for16 eign country trade practice identified under sub17 section (a) of a country that is not described in 

18 paragraph (2), the Trade Representative shall, not 

19 later than 120 days after the report described in 

20 subsection (a) is submitted— 

21 ‘‘(A) initiate an investigation under section 

22 302(b)(1); 

23 ‘‘(B) seek to negotiate an agreement that 

24 provides for the elimination of the priority for25 eign country trade practice or, if elimination of 


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1 the practice is not feasible, an agreement that 

2 provides for compensatory trade benefits; or 

3 ‘‘(C) take any other action necessary to 

4 eliminate the priority foreign country trade 

5 practice. 

6 ‘‘(e) ADDITIONAL REPORTING.— 

7 ‘‘(1) REPORT BY TRADE REPRESENTATIVE.— 

8 Not later than 180 days after the date of the enact9 ment of this section, and every 180 days thereafter, 

10 the Trade Representative shall report to the Com11 mittee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee 

12 on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives 

13 on the progress being made to realize the trade en14 forcement priorities identified in subsection (a)(1) 

15 and the steps being taken to address the priority 

16 foreign country trade practices identified in sub17 section (a)(3). 

18 ‘‘(2) REPORT BY GOVERNMENT ACCOUNT19 ABILITY OFFICE.—Not later than 2 years after the 

20 date of the enactment of this section, and every 2 

21 years thereafter, the Comptroller General of the 

22 United States shall submit to the Committee on Fi23 nance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways 

24 and Means of the House of Representatives a report 

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1 ative to realize the trade enforcement priorities iden2 tified in subsection (a)(1) and the steps being taken 

3 to address the priority foreign country trade prac4 tices identified in subsection (a)(3).’’. 

5 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con6 tents for the Trade Act of 1974 is amended by striking 

7 the item relating to section 310, and inserting the fol8 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 310. Identification of trade enforcement priorities.’’. 

Æ 


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