I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1704 

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. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 13, 2019 

Mr. MCCAUL (for himself, Mr. ENGEL, and Mr. YOHO) introduced the 

following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Championing Amer5 ican Business Through Diplomacy Act of 2019’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) According to the 2017 National Security 

2 Strategy of the United States of America, ‘‘Retain3 ing our position as the world’s preeminent economic 

4 actor strengthens our ability to use the tools of eco5 nomic diplomacy for the good of Americans and oth6 ers.’’. 

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

8 of State Michael R. Pompeo to all diplomatic and 

9 consular posts—‘‘Boosting Commercial Diplomacy 

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

11 companies is a foreign policy priority . . . Pro12 moting broad-based, responsible, and sustainable 

13 economic growth helps to stabilize regions and cre14 ates new and growing markets for U.S. companies. 

15 A transparent and level playing field for U.S. invest16 ment in these countries counters real and growing 

17 challenges such as China’s Belt and Road initia18 tive.’’. 

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

20 Foreign Service Journal, Ambassador Barbara Ste21 phenson, the President of the American Foreign 

22 Service Association, wrote ‘‘Foreign Service support 

23 for American business . . . is a major reason why 

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


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1 SEC. 3. ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT 

2 OF STATE. 

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

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

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para7 graph (4); and 

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC

11 AND BUSINESS MATTERS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the numer13 ical limitation specified in paragraph (1), there 

14 is authorized to be established in the Depart15 ment of State an Assistant Secretary of State 

16 who shall be responsible to the Secretary of 

17 State for matters pertaining to international ec18 onomics and business matters in the conduct of 

19 foreign policy. 

20 ‘‘(B) MATTERS CONTEMPLATED.—The 

21 matters referred to in subparagraph (A) include 

22 the following: 

23 ‘‘(i) International trade and invest24 ment policy. 

25 ‘‘(ii) International finance, economic 

26 development, and debt policy. 


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1 ‘‘(iii) Economic sanctions and com2 bating terrorist financing. 

3 ‘‘(iv) International transportation pol4 icy. 

5 ‘‘(v) Support for United States busi6 nesses. 

7 ‘‘(vi) Economic policy analysis and 

8 private sector outreach. 

9 ‘‘(vii) International data privacy and 

10 innovation policies. 

11 ‘‘(viii) Such other related duties as 

12 the Secretary may from time to time des13 ignate.’’. 

14 SEC. 4. CHIEF OF MISSION RESPONSIBILITIES. 

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

16 U.S.C. 3927) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(d) PROMOTION OF UNITED STATES ECONOMIC IN19 TERESTS.—Each chief of mission to a foreign country 

20 shall have as a principal duty the promotion of United 

21 States economic and commercial interests in such coun22 try.’’. 


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1 SEC. 5. INCREASED TRAINING IN ECONOMIC AND COMMER2 CIAL DIPLOMACY. 

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

4 U.S.C. 4028) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new subsection: 

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

7 The Secretary of State, with the assistance of other rel8 evant officials and the private sector, shall establish as 

9 part of the standard training provided for economic and 

10 commercial officers of the Foreign Service, chiefs of mis11 sion, and deputy chiefs of mission, training on matters re12 lated to economic and commercial diplomacy, with par13 ticular attention to market access and other elements of 

14 an enabling framework for United States businesses, com15 mercial advocacy, and United States foreign economic pol16 icy, in addition to awareness about the support of the 

17 United States Government available to United States busi18 nesses, including support provided by the Department of 

19 Agriculture, the Department of Commerce, the Export20 Import Bank of the United States, the Millennium Chal21 lenge Corporation, the Trade and Development Agency, 

22 the Department of the Treasury, the United States Agen23 cy for International Development, and the United States 

24 International Development Finance Corporation.’’. 


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

2 COMMERCIAL RELATIONS. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than one year after the 

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

5 the chief of mission at each bilateral diplomatic mission 

6 of the United States and the Director of the American 

7 Institute in Taiwan shall submit to the Secretary of State 

8 the following: 

9 (1) Data and other information regarding ac10 tions taken by each such mission or Institute during 

11 the previous year to foster commercial relations and 

12 safeguard United States economic and business in13 terests in the country or region in which each such 

14 chief of mission and the Director serves. 

15 (2) Each such mission’s and Institute’s antici16 pated economic and commercial priorities for the 

17 coming year. 

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

19 after receiving the information required under subsection 

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

21 the House of Representatives and the Committee on For22 eign Relations of the Senate a report, disaggregated by 

23 country or region, on activities and initiatives, including 

24 with appropriate examples, to create an enabling environ25 ment and otherwise promote United States economic and 

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


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1 as information about significant foreign competition to 

2 United States businesses in the relevant country or region, 

3 including state-directed investments by foreign govern4 ments and United States strategic competitors in such 

5 country or region. 

6 SEC. 7. REPORT ON UNIFIED INVESTMENT CLIMATE STATE7 MENT AND COUNTRY COMMERCIAL GUIDE. 

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

9 Secretary of Commerce shall jointly produce and make 

10 publicly available on a United States Government internet 

11 website an annual country- and region-specific report re12 garding commercial relations with foreign countries and 

13 regions and safeguarding United States economic and 

14 business interests abroad, including with regard to United 

15 States exports and investments, including by small- and 

16 medium-size enterprises. 

17 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report re18 quired under subsection (a) shall include the following 

19 with respect to each country or region covered by each 

20 such report: 

21 (1) Information about doing business in each 

22 country or region. 

23 (2) Background information about each coun24 try’s or region’s political environment. 


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1 (3) Information about selling United States 

2 products and services in each country or region. 

3 (4) Leading sectors for United States exports 

4 and investment in each country or region. 

5 (5) Information about trade regulations, cus6 toms, and standards in each country or region, such 

7 as— 

8 (A) information on import tariffs; and 

9 (B) documentation about which United 

10 States businesses should be aware when export11 ing, including any prohibited items or tem12 porary entry procedures. 

13 (6) Investment climate statements describing 

14 each country’s or region’s openness to foreign invest15 ments, such as information relating to each coun16 try’s or region’s— 

17 (A) investment policies; 

18 (B) market barriers; 

19 (C) business risks; 

20 (D) legal and regulatory system, including 

21 dispute resolution; 

22 (E) level of public and private sector cor23 ruption; 

24 (F) level of political violence and insta25 bility; 


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1 (G) adherence to internationally recognized 

2 core labor standards; and 

3 (H) protection of property rights. 

4 (7) Information about trade and project financ5 ing in each country or region, such as each country’s 

6 or region’s— 

7 (A) banking and financial system, and how 

8 United States businesses typically get paid; 

9 (B) foreign exchange controls; and 

10 (C) important sources of funding for 

11 project financing. 

12 (8) Relevant business travel information and 

13 business customs in each country or region. 

14 (9) Information about services and personnel of 

15 the diplomatic mission of the United States available 

16 to United States businesses to support their activi17 ties in each country or region. 

18 (10) Any significant trade or commercial agree19 ment that exists between the United States and each 

20 country or region. 

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

22 consular mission of the United States in each coun23 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 one year after the date of enactment of this 

5 Act, the President shall provide a briefing to the Com6 mittee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives 

7 and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate 

8 on the progress of any negotiations described in subsection 

9 (a). 

10 SEC. 10. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE 

11 UNITED STATES. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years after the 

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

14 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 

15 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

16 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report 

17 on United States economic and commercial diplomacy. 

18 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re19 quired under subsection (a) shall include an assessment 

20 of the following: 

21 (1) What is known about the effectiveness of 

22 United States economic and commercial diplomacy 

23 in influencing foreign governments and supporting 

24 United States businesses abroad. 


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1 (2) Coordination between the Department of 

2 State and the Department of Commerce with respect 

3 to United States economic and commercial diplo4 macy. 

5 (3) The effectiveness of training provided pur6 suant to subsection (d) of section 708 of the Foreign 

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

8 Act) on matters relating to economic and commer9 cial diplomacy. 

10 (4) The status and effectiveness of actions 

11 taken by the Secretary of State under section 7 of 

12 this Act regarding commercial relations with foreign 

13 countries and regions and safeguarding United 

14 States economic and business interests abroad. 

15 (5) Recommendations to improve United States 

16 economic and commercial diplomacy. 

Æ 


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