I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1166

To authorize the President to enter into a trade agreement concerning Northern Ireland and certain border counties of the Republic of Ireland,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 17, 1999

Mr. MEEHAN (for himself, Mr. KING, Mr. CROWLEY, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New

York, Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. MENENDEZ, and

Mr. PASCRELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Ways and Means

A BILL

To authorize the President to enter into a trade agreement

concerning Northern Ireland and certain border counties

of the Republic of Ireland, 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. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress makes the following findings:

5 (1) It is in the interest of the United States

6 that the precarious peace process now underway in

7 Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland suc8 ceed, both to ensure stability for important allies
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1 and friends of the United States and to assure a

2 mutually beneficial flow of trade and commerce.

3 (2) Locally sustainable economic development

4 within Northern Ireland and the border counties of

5 the Republic of Ireland creates the basis for political

6 stability and enhances the likelihood of peace.

7 (3)(A) The granting of reasonable tariff conces8 sions for products and goods originating in Northern

9 Ireland and the border counties of the Republic of

10 Ireland will provide an incentive for such develop11 ment.

12 (B) Because both the United Kingdom and the

13 Republic of Ireland are members of the European

14 Union (hereafter in this Act referred to as the

15 ‘‘EU’’), tariff issues relating to Northern Ireland

16 and the border counties of the Republic of Ireland

17 are subject to the common commercial policy pro18 vided for in Article 113 of the Treaty of Rome, and

19 any negotiations concerning them must conform to

20 EU law and Paragraphs 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Article

21 XXIV of the GATT 1994.

22 (C) While there is no precedent in EU practice

23 for the free trade agreement contemplated in this

24 Act, the effect of such an agreement will be to sup25 port important on-going efforts by the EU to achieve
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1 greater social cohesion in a unique and disadvan2 taged region, to the long-term benefit of the EU, the

3 United States, and the larger international commu4 nity.

5 (4) The President should be authorized to nego6 tiate such concessions in accordance with the terms

7 and conditions set forth in the Act.

8 SEC. 2. FREE TRADE AGREEMENT WITH NORTHERN IRE9 LAND.

10 (a) NEGOTIATIONS.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President may enter

12 into a trade agreement with respect to qualified

13 areas of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ire14 land which provides for—

15 (A) the harmonization, reduction, and

16 elimination of trade barriers;

17 (B) the prohibition of or limitations on the

18 imposition of trade barriers; and

19 (C) the elimination or reduction of any

20 duty imposed by the United States.

21 (2) AGREEMENT LIMITED TO QUALIFIED AREAS

22 OF NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE REPUBLIC OF

23 IRELAND.—Notwithstanding any other provision of

24 law, no trade benefit shall be extended to any coun25 try by reason of the extension of any trade benefit
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1 to another country under a trade agreement entered

2 into under paragraph (1) with such other country.

3 (b) LIMITATIONS AND STAGING.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—No proclamation may be

5 made under subsection (a) that—

6 (A) reduces any rate of duty (other than a

7 rate of duty that does not exceed 5 percent ad

8 valorem on the date of enactment of this Act)

9 to a rate of duty which is less than 5 percent

10 of the rate of duty that applies on such a date

11 of enactment;

12 (B) reduces the rate of duty on an article

13 over a period greater than 10 years after the

14 first reduction that is proclaimed to carry out

15 a trade agreement with respect to such article;

16 or

17 (C) increase any rate of duty above the

18 rate that applies on the date of the enactment

19 of this Act.

20 (2) LIMITATION ON AGGREGATE REDUCTION.—

21 The aggregate reduction in the rate of duty on any

22 article which is in effect on any day pursuant to a

23 trade agreement entered into under subsection (a)

24 shall not exceed the aggregate reduction which

25 would have been in effect on such a day if a reduc-
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1 tion of 3 percent ad valorem per year or a reduction

2 of 10 percent per year of the total reduction, which3 ever is greater, had taken effect on the effective date

4 of the first reduction proclaimed pursuant to sub5 section (a).

6 (3) EXEMPTION FROM STAGING.—No staging is

7 required under paragraph (2) with respect to a duty

8 reduction that is proclaimed under subsection (a) for

9 an article of a kind that is not produced in the

10 United States. The United States International

11 Trade Commission shall advise the President of the

12 identity of articles that may be exempted from stag13 ing under this paragraph.

14 (4) ROUNDING.—If the President determines

15 that such action will simplify the computation of re16 ductions under paragraph (1) or (2), the President

17 may round an annual reduction by an amount equal

18 to the lesser of—

19 (A) the difference between the reduction

20 without regard to this paragraph and the next

21 lower whole number; or

22 (B) one-half of 1 percent ad valorem.

23 (5) OTHER LIMITATIONS.—A rate of duty re24 duction or increase that may not be proclaimed by

25 reason of paragraph (1) may take effect only if a
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1 provision authorizing such reduction is included

2 within an implementing bill provided for in connec3 tion with the agreement authorized by this Act and

4 that bill is enacted into law.

5 SEC. 3. CRITERIA FOR DUTY-FREE TREATMENT OF ARTI6 CLES.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—

8 (1) ARTICLE MUST BE GROWTH, PRODUCT, OR

9 MANUFACTURE OF QUALIFIED AREA OF NORTHERN

10 IRELAND OR THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND.—The re11 duction or elimination of any duty imposed on any

12 article by the United States provided for in a trade

13 agreement entered into with a qualified area of

14 Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland under

15 this Act shall apply only if—

16 (A) that article is the growth, product, or

17 manufacture of a qualified area of Northern

18 Ireland or the Republic of Ireland or is a new

19 or different article of commerce that has been

20 grown, produced, or manufactured in a quali21 fied area of Northern Ireland or the Republic of

22 Ireland;

23 (B) that article is imported directly from a

24 qualified area of Northern Ireland or the Re-
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1 public of Ireland into the customs territory of

2 the United States; and

3 (C) the sum of—

4 (i) the cost of value of the materials

5 produced in a qualified area of Northern

6 Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, plus

7 (ii) the direct costs of processing oper8 ations performed in a qualified area of

9 Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ire10 land,

11 is not less than 35 percent of the appraised

12 value of such article at the time it is entered.

13 If the cost or value of materials produced in the cus14 toms territory of the United States is included with

15 respect to an article to which this subsection applies,

16 an amount not to exceed 15 percent of the appraised

17 value of the article at the time it is entered that is

18 attributable to such United States cost or value may

19 be applied toward determining the percentage re20 ferred to in subparagraph (C).

21 (2) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—No article may be

22 considered to meet the requirements of paragraph

23 (1)(A) by virtue of having merely undergone—

24 (A) simple combining or packaging oper25 ations; or
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1 (B) mere dilution with water or mere dilu2 tion with another substance that does not mate3 rially alter the characteristics of the article.

4 (b) DIRECT COSTS.—As used in this section, the

5 term ‘‘direct costs of processing operations’’—

6 (1) includes, but is not limited to—

7 (A) all actual labor costs involved in the

8 growth, production, manufacture, or assembly

9 of the specific merchandise, including fringe

10 benefits, on-the-job training, and the cost of en11 gineering, supervisory, quality control, and

12 similar personnel; and

13 (B) dies, molds, tooling, and depreciation

14 on machinery and equipment which are allo15 cable to the specific merchandise; and

16 (2) does not include costs which are not directly

17 attributable to the merchandise concerned, or are

18 not costs of manufacturing the product, such as—

19 (A) profit; and

20 (B) general expenses of doing business

21 which are either not allocable to the specific

22 merchandise or are not related to the growth,

23 production, manufacture, or assembly of the

24 merchandise, such as administrative salaries,

25 casualty and liability insurance, advertising,
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1 and salesmen’s salaries, commissions, or ex2 penses.

3 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of the Treasury,

4 after consultation with the United States Trade Rep5 resentative, shall prescribe such regulations as may be

6 necessary to carry out this section.

7 SEC. 4. ITC REPORTS.

8 Before any reduction or elimination of any duty is

9 proclaimed with respect to any article under this Act, the

10 United States International Trade Commission shall ad11 vise the President regarding the probable economic effect

12 of providing duty-free treatment for such article that is

13 a product of a qualified area of Northern Ireland or the

14 Republic of Ireland on industries in the United States pro15 ducing like or directly competitive articles and on con16 sumers.

17 SEC. 5. CONSULTATION WITH CONGRESS BEFORE AGREE18 MENT ENTERED INTO.

19 (a) CONSULTATION.—Before entering into any trade

20 agreement under this Act, the President shall consult

21 with—

22 (1) the Committee on Ways and Means of the

23 House of Representatives and the Committee on Fi24 nance of the Senate; and
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1 (2) each other committee of the House of Rep2 resentatives and the Senate, and each joint com3 mittee of the Congress, which has jurisdiction over

4 legislation involving subject matters which would be

5 affected by the trade agreement.

6 (b) SCOPE.—The consultation described in subsection

7 (a) shall include consultation with respect to—

8 (1) the nature of the agreement;

9 (2) how the agreement related to the obliga10 tions of the parties; and

11 (3) all matters relating to the implementation

12 of the agreement, including whether the agreement

13 includes subject matter for which supplemental im14 plementing legislation may be required.

15 SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF TRADE AGREEMENTS.

16 (a) NOTIFICATION AND SUBMISSION.—Any agree17 ment entered into under this Act shall enter into force

18 with respect to the United States if (and only if)—

19 (1) the President, at least 90 calendar days be20 fore the day on which the President enters into the

21 trade agreement, notifies the House of Representa22 tives and the Senate of the President’s intention to

23 enter into the agreement, and promptly thereafter

24 publishes notice of such intention in the Federal

25 Register;
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1 (2) within 60 days after entering into the

2 agreement, the President submits to the Congress a

3 description of those changes to existing laws that the

4 President considers would be required in order to

5 bring the United States into compliance with the

6 agreement;

7 (3) after entering into the agreement, the Presi8 dent submits a copy of the final text of the agree9 ment, together with—

10 (A) a draft of an implementing bill, if nec11 essary;

12 (B) a statement of any administrative ac13 tion proposed to implement the trade agree14 ment; and

15 (C) the supporting information described

16 in paragraph (2); and

17 (4) the implementing bill, if necessary, is en18 acted into law.

19 (b) SUPPORTING INFORMATION.—The supporting in20 formation required under subsection (a)(3)(C) consists

21 of—

22 (1) an explanation as to how the implementing

23 bill and proposed administrative action will change

24 or affect existing law; and
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1 (2) a statement setting forth the reasons of the

2 President regarding how the agreement serves the

3 interest of United States commerce.

4 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

5 As used in this Act:

6 (1) QUALIFYING AREA.—(A) The term ‘‘quali7 fying area’’ means a county that—

8 (i) is contiguous to Northern Ireland;

9 (ii) suffers from the severest form of eco10 nomic deprivation, as defined by the United

11 Kingdom’s report, Relative Deprivation in

12 Northern Ireland, Occasional Paper Number

13 28, Policy Planning and Research Unit, Sep14 tember, and the European Union’s report, Spe15 cial Support Programme for Peace and Rec16 onciliation 1995–1999, including—

17 (I) in Northern Ireland, the counties

18 of Derry, Limavady, Strabane,

19 Magherafelt, Omagh, Cookstown,

20 Dungannon, Fermanagh, Moyle, Newry

21 and Mourne, Armagh, and those parts of

22 Belfast Urban area known as ‘‘Making

23 Belfast Work’’ designated areas; and
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1 (II) in the Republic of Ireland, the

2 border counties of Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim,

3 Cavan, Monaghan and Louth;

4 (iii) has a rate of unemployment higher

5 than the local or urban average of unemploy6 ment in Northern Ireland; and

7 (iv) in the case of county in which there is

8 a history of workplace discrimination, meets the

9 requirements of subparagraph (B).

10 (B) A county meets the requirements of this

11 subparagraph if the employers in that county are in

12 compliance with the principles of economic justice

13 known as the ‘‘MacBride Principles’’, which are—

14 (i) increasing the representation of individ15 uals from underrepresented religious groups in

16 the workforce, including managerial, super17 visory, administrative, clerical, and technical

18 jobs;

19 (ii) providing adequate security for the

20 protection of minority employees at the work21 place;

22 (iii) banning provocative sectarian or polit23 ical emblems from the workplace;

24 (iv) providing that all job openings be ad25 vertised publicly and providing that special re-
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1 cruitment efforts be made to attract applicants

2 from underrepresented religious groups;

3 (v) providing that layoff, recall, and termi4 nation procedures do not favor a particular reli5 gious group;

6 (vi) abolishing job reservations, apprentice7 ship restrictions, and differential employment

8 criteria which discriminate on the basis of reli9 gion;

10 (vii) providing for the development of

11 training programs that will prepare substantial

12 numbers of minority employees for skilled jobs,

13 including the expansion of existing programs

14 and the creation of new programs to train, up15 grade, and improve the skills of minority em16 ployees;

17 (viii) establishing procedures to assess,

18 identify, and actively recruit minority employees

19 with the potential for further advancement; and

20 (ix) providing for the appointment of a

21 senior management staff member to be respon22 sible for the employment efforts of the entity

23 and, within a reasonable period of time, the im24 plementation of the principles described in

25 clauses (i) through (viii).
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1 (2) GATT 1994.—The term ‘‘GATT 1994’’ has

2 the meaning given that term in section 2(1)(B) of

3 the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (19 U.S.C.

4 3501(1)(B)).

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