IIB 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1704 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 8, 2019 

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

AN ACT 

To foster commercial relations with foreign countries and 

support United States economic and business interests 

abroad in the conduct of foreign policy, 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 ‘‘Championing Amer3 ican Business Through Diplomacy Act of 2019’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) According to the 2017 National Security 

7 Strategy of the United States of America, ‘‘Retain8 ing our position as the world’s preeminent economic 

9 actor strengthens our ability to use the tools of eco10 nomic diplomacy for the good of Americans and oth11 ers.’’. 

12 (2) A November 7, 2018, cable from Secretary 

13 of State Michael R. Pompeo to all diplomatic and 

14 consular posts—‘‘Boosting Commercial Diplomacy 

15 Around the World’’—stated that ‘‘helping American 

16 companies is a foreign policy priority * * *. Pro17 moting broad-based, responsible, and sustainable 

18 economic growth helps to stabilize regions and cre19 ates new and growing markets for U.S. companies. 

20 A transparent and level playing field for U.S. invest21 ment in these countries counters real and growing 

22 challenges such as China’s Belt and Road initia23 tive.’’. 

24 (3) In the January–February 2019 issue of The 

25 Foreign Service Journal, Ambassador Barbara Ste26 phenson, the President of the American Foreign 


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1 Service Association, wrote ‘‘Foreign Service support 

2 for American business * * * is a major reason why 

3 the U.S. Foreign Service was created.’’. 

4 SEC. 3. ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT 

5 OF STATE. 

6 Subsection (c) of section 1 of the State Department 

7 Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a) is 

8 amended— 

9 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para10 graph (4); and 

11 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol12 lowing new paragraph: 

13 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC

14 AND BUSINESS MATTERS.— 

15 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the numer16 ical limitation specified in paragraph (1), there 

17 is authorized to be established in the Depart18 ment of State an Assistant Secretary of State 

19 who shall be responsible to the Secretary of 

20 State for matters pertaining to international ec21 onomics and business matters in the conduct of 

22 foreign policy. 

23 ‘‘(B) MATTERS CONTEMPLATED.—The 

24 matters referred to in subparagraph (A) include 

25 the following: 


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1 ‘‘(i) International trade and invest2 ment policy. 

3 ‘‘(ii) International finance, economic 

4 development, and debt policy. 

5 ‘‘(iii) Economic sanctions and com6 bating terrorist financing. 

7 ‘‘(iv) International transportation pol8 icy. 

9 ‘‘(v) Support for United States busi10 nesses. 

11 ‘‘(vi) Economic policy analysis and 

12 private sector outreach. 

13 ‘‘(vii) International data privacy and 

14 innovation policies. 

15 ‘‘(viii) Such other related duties as 

16 the Secretary may from time to time des17 ignate.’’. 

18 SEC. 4. CHIEF OF MISSION RESPONSIBILITIES. 

19 Section 207 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 

20 U.S.C. 3927) is amended by adding at the end the fol21 lowing new subsection: 

22 ‘‘(d) PROMOTION OF UNITED STATES ECONOMIC IN23 TERESTS.—Each chief of mission to a foreign country 

24 shall have as a principal duty the promotion of United 


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1 States economic and commercial interests in such coun2 try.’’. 

3 SEC. 5. INCREASED TRAINING IN ECONOMIC AND COMMER4 CIAL DIPLOMACY. 

5 Section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 

6 U.S.C. 4028) is amended by adding at the end the fol7 lowing new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(d) ECONOMIC AND COMMERCIAL DIPLOMACY.— 

9 The Secretary of State, with the assistance of other rel10 evant officials and the private sector, shall establish as 

11 part of the standard training provided for economic and 

12 commercial officers of the Foreign Service, chiefs of mis13 sion, and deputy chiefs of mission, training on matters re14 lated to economic and commercial diplomacy, with par15 ticular attention to market access and other elements of 

16 an enabling framework for United States businesses, com17 mercial advocacy, and United States foreign economic pol18 icy, in addition to awareness about the support of the 

19 United States Government available to United States busi20 nesses, including support provided by the Department of 

21 Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Export22 Import Bank of the United States, the Millennium Chal23 lenge Corporation, the Trade and Development Agency, 

24 the Department of the Treasury, the United States AgenVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:09 May 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1704.RFS H1704

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1 cy for International Development, and the United States 

2 International Development Finance Corporation.’’. 

3 SEC. 6. REPORT FROM EACH MISSION ON MATTERS OF 

4 COMMERCIAL RELATIONS. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

6 date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, 

7 the chief of mission at each bilateral diplomatic mission 

8 of the United States and the Director of the American 

9 Institute in Taiwan shall submit to the Secretary of State 

10 the following: 

11 (1) Data and other information regarding ac12 tions taken by each such mission or Institute during 

13 the previous year to foster commercial relations and 

14 safeguard United States economic and business in15 terests in the country or region in which each such 

16 chief of mission and the Director serves. 

17 (2) Each such mission’s and Institute’s antici18 pated economic and commercial priorities for the 

19 coming year. 

20 (b) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of State, 

21 after receiving the information required under subsection 

22 (a), shall submit to the Committee on Foreign Affairs of 

23 the House of Representatives and the Committee on For24 eign Relations of the Senate a report, disaggregated by 

25 country or region, on activities and initiatives, including 


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1 with appropriate examples, to create an enabling environ2 ment and otherwise promote United States economic and 

3 business interests in each such country or region, as well 

4 as information about significant foreign competition to 

5 United States businesses in the relevant country or region, 

6 including state-directed investments by foreign govern7 ments and United States strategic competitors in such 

8 country or region. 

9 SEC. 7. REPORT ON UNIFIED INVESTMENT CLIMATE STATE10 MENT AND COUNTRY COMMERCIAL GUIDE. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and the 

12 Secretary of Commerce shall jointly produce and make 

13 publicly available on a United States Government internet 

14 website an annual country- and region-specific report re15 garding commercial relations with foreign countries and 

16 regions and safeguarding United States economic and 

17 business interests abroad, including with regard to United 

18 States exports and investments, including by small- and 

19 medium-size enterprises. 

20 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report re21 quired under subsection (a) shall include the following 

22 with respect to each country or region covered by each 

23 such report: 

24 (1) Information about doing business in each 

25 country or region. 


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1 (2) Background information about each coun2 try’s or region’s political environment. 

3 (3) Information about selling United States 

4 products and services in each country or region. 

5 (4) Leading sectors for United States exports 

6 and investment in each country or region. 

7 (5) Information about trade regulations, cus8 toms, and standards in each country or region, such 

9 as— 

10 (A) information on import tariffs; and 

11 (B) documentation about which United 

12 States businesses should be aware when export13 ing, including any prohibited items or tem14 porary entry procedures. 

15 (6) Investment climate statements describing 

16 each country’s or region’s openness to foreign invest17 ments, such as information relating to each coun18 try’s or region’s— 

19 (A) investment policies; 

20 (B) market barriers; 

21 (C) business risks; 

22 (D) legal and regulatory system, including 

23 dispute resolution; 

24 (E) level of public and private sector cor25 ruption; 


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1 (F) level of political violence and insta2 bility; 

3 (G) adherence to internationally recognized 

4 core labor standards; and 

5 (H) protection of property rights. 

6 (7) Information about trade and project financ7 ing in each country or region, such as each country’s 

8 or region’s— 

9 (A) banking and financial system, and how 

10 United States businesses typically get paid; 

11 (B) foreign exchange controls; and 

12 (C) important sources of funding for 

13 project financing. 

14 (8) Relevant business travel information and 

15 business customs in each country or region. 

16 (9) Information about services and personnel of 

17 the diplomatic mission of the United States available 

18 to United States businesses to support their activi19 ties in each country or region. 

20 (10) Any significant trade or commercial agree21 ment that exists between the United States and each 

22 country or region. 

23 (11) A point of contact at the diplomatic or 

24 consular mission of the United States in each coun25 try or region for United States businesses. 


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1 SEC. 8. IMPROVING AWARENESS OF UNITED STATES GOV2 ERNMENT TOOLS AND SERVICES TO SUP3 PORT UNITED STATES BUSINESSES OVER4 SEAS. 

5 The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Com6 merce shall take actions to improve United States busi7 nesses’ awareness of United States Government tools and 

8 services to assist such businesses overseas, especially small 

9 and medium-sized enterprises, including by coordinating 

10 with State trade agencies, Export Assistance Centers, and 

11 Small Businesses Development Centers. 

12 SEC. 9. NEGOTIATIONS TO ESTABLISH INTERNATIONAL 

13 QUALITY INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT 

14 STANDARDS. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The President, acting through the 

16 Secretary of State, and in coordination with other relevant 

17 Federal agency heads, shall initiate and pursue negotia18 tions with countries to establish international standards 

19 for government-supported quality infrastructure invest20 ment overseas, including with respect to the following: 

21 (1) Respect for the sovereignty of countries in 

22 which infrastructure investments are made. 

23 (2) Anti-corruption. 

24 (3) Fiscal and debt sustainability. 

25 (4) Environmental, social and governance safe26 guards. 


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1 (5) Local labor. 

2 (6) Transparency. 

3 (b) REPORT ON PROGRESS OF NEGOTIATIONS.—Not 

4 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, 

5 the President shall provide a briefing to the Committee 

6 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 

7 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate on the 

8 progress of any negotiations described in subsection (a). 

9 SEC. 10. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE 

10 UNITED STATES. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after the 

12 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

13 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 

14 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

15 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report 

16 on United States economic and commercial diplomacy. 

17 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re18 quired under subsection (a) shall include an assessment 

19 of the following: 

20 (1) What is known about the effectiveness of 

21 United States economic and commercial diplomacy 

22 in influencing foreign governments and supporting 

23 United States businesses abroad. 

24 (2) Coordination between the Department of 

25 State and the Department of Commerce with respect 


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1 to United States economic and commercial diplo2 macy. 

3 (3) The effectiveness of training provided pur4 suant to subsection (d) of section 708 of the Foreign 

5 Service Act of 1980 (as added by section 4 of this 

6 Act) on matters relating to economic and commer7 cial diplomacy. 

8 (4) The status and effectiveness of actions 

9 taken by the Secretary of State under section 7 of 

10 this Act regarding commercial relations with foreign 

11 countries and regions and safeguarding United 

12 States economic and business interests abroad. 

13 (5) Recommendations to improve United States 

14 economic and commercial diplomacy. 

Passed the House of Representatives May 7, 2019. 

Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, 

Clerk. 


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