II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1724

To modify the standards for responding to import surges under section

201 of the Trade Act of 1974, to establish mechanisms for agricultural

import monitoring and the prevention of circumvention of United States

trade laws, and to strengthen the enforcement of United States trade

remedy laws.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 13, 1999

Mr. BAUCUS introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To modify the standards for responding to import surges

under section 201 of the Trade Act of 1974, to establish

mechanisms for agricultural import monitoring and the

prevention of circumvention of United States trade laws,

and to strengthen the enforcement of United States trade

remedy laws.

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 ‘‘Agriculture Import

5 Surge Relief Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 1 OF TITLE II OF THE

2 TRADE ACT OF 1974.

3 (a) TEST FOR POSITIVE ADJUSTMENTS TO IMPORT

4 COMPETITION.—Section 201(a) of the Trade Act of 1974

5 (19 U.S.C. 2251(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘be a sub6 stantial cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof,’’ and

7 inserting ‘‘cause or threaten to cause serious injury’’.

8 (b) INVESTIGATIONS AND DETERMINATIONS.—Sec9 tion 202 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2252) is

10 amended—

11 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘be a

12 substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat

13 thereof,’’ and inserting ‘‘cause or threaten to cause

14 serious injury’’;

15 (2) by amending subsection (b)(1)(B) to read

16 as follows:

17 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this section, the term

18 ‘cause’ refers to a cause that contributes signifi19 cantly to serious injury, or the threat thereof, to the

20 domestic industry but need not be equal to or great21 er than any other cause.’’;

22 (3) in subsection (b)(2)(A) by striking ‘‘sub23 paragraph (B)’’ and inserting ‘‘subparagraphs (B)

24 and (C)’’;

25 (4) in subsection (b)(2), by adding at the end

26 the following new subparagraph:
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1 ‘‘(C) For petitions involving agriculture,

2 the Commission shall make the determination

3 under paragraph (1) within 60 days (90 days if

4 the petition alleges that critical circumstances

5 exist) after the date on which the petition is

6 filed, the request or resolution is received, or

7 the motion is adopted, as the case may be.’’.

8 (5) in subsection (c)—

9 (A) by amending paragraph (1)(A) to read

10 as follows:

11 ‘‘(A) with respect to serious injury—

12 ‘‘(i) change in the level of sales, pro13 duction, productivity, capacity utilization,

14 profits and losses, and employment,

15 ‘‘(ii) the significant idling of produc16 tive facilities in the domestic industry,

17 ‘‘(iii) the inability of a significant

18 number of firms to carry out domestic pro19 duction operations at a reasonable level of

20 profit, and

21 ‘‘(iv) significant unemployment or

22 underemployment within the domestic in23 dustry;’’;

24 (B) in paragraph (1)(B)—
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1 (i) in clause (iii), by striking ‘‘; and’’

2 and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and

3 (ii) by inserting after clause (iii) the

4 following:

5 ‘‘(iv) foreign production capacity, for6 eign inventories, the level of demand in

7 third country markets, and the availability

8 of other export markets to absorb any ad9 ditional exports; and’’;

10 (C) by amending paragraph (1)(C) to read

11 as follows:

12 ‘‘(C) with respect to cause—

13 ‘‘(i) the rate, amount, and timing of

14 the increase in imports of the product con15 cerned in absolute and relative terms, in16 cluding whether there has been an increase

17 in imports over a short period of time, and

18 ‘‘(ii) the share of the domestic market

19 taken by increased imports.’’;

20 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (3)

21 through (6) as paragraphs (6) through (9), re22 spectively;

23 (E) by striking paragraph (2) and insert24 ing the following:
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1 ‘‘(2) In making determinations under para2 graph (1) (A) and (B), if domestic producers inter3 nally transfer significant production of the article

4 like or directly competitive with the imported article

5 for the production of a downstream article and sell

6 significant production of the article like or directly

7 competitive with the imported article in the mer8 chant market, and the Commission finds that—

9 ‘‘(A) the article like or directly competitive

10 with the imported article produced that is inter11 nally transferred for processing into that down12 stream article does not enter the merchant mar13 ket for the article like or directly competitive

14 with the imported article,

15 ‘‘(B) the article like or directly competitive

16 with the imported article is the predominant

17 material input in the production of that down18 stream article, and

19 ‘‘(C) the production of the article like or

20 directly competitive with the imported article

21 sold in the merchant market is not generally

22 used in the production of the downstream arti23 cle,

24 then the Commission, in determining market share

25 and the factors affecting financial performance set
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1 forth in paragraph (1) (A) and (B), shall focus pri2 marily on the merchant market for the article like

3 or directly competitive with the imported article.

4 ‘‘(3) For purposes of paragraph (2), the terms

5 ‘internally transfer’, ‘downstream article’, and ‘mer6 chant market’ have the same meanings as those

7 terms have when used in section 771(7)(C)(iv) of the

8 Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(7)(C)(iv)).

9 ‘‘(4) In making determinations under sub10 section (b), the Commission shall—

11 ‘‘(A) consider the condition of the domestic

12 industry over the course of the relevant busi13 ness cycle, but may not aggregate the causes of

14 declining demand associated with a recession or

15 economic downturn in the United States econ16 omy into a single cause of serious injury or

17 threat of injury; and

18 ‘‘(B) examine factors other than imports

19 which may cause or threaten to cause serious

20 injury to the domestic industry.

21 The Commission shall include the results of its ex22 amination under subparagraph (B) in the report

23 submitted by the Commission to the President under

24 subsection (e).
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1 ‘‘(5) In making determinations under sub2 section (b), the Commission shall consider whether

3 any change in the volume of imports that has oc4 curred since a petition under subsection (a) was filed

5 or a request under subsection (b) was made is re6 lated to the pendency of the investigation, and if so,

7 the Commission may reduce the weight accorded to

8 the data for the period after the petition under sub9 section (a) was filed or the request under subsection

10 (b) was made in making its determination of serious

11 injury, or the threat thereof.’’; and

12 (F) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated—

13 (i) by striking ‘‘and (B)’’ and insert14 ing ‘‘, (B), and (C)’’; and

15 (ii) by striking ‘‘be a substantial cause

16 of serious injury, or the threat thereof,’’

17 and inserting ‘‘cause or threaten to cause

18 serious injury’’;

19 (6) in subsection (d)—

20 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), by striking

21 ‘‘be, or likely to be a substantial cause of seri22 ous injury, or the threat thereof,’’ and inserting

23 ‘‘cause, or be likely to cause, or threaten to

24 cause, or be likely to threaten to cause, serious

25 injury’’;
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1 (B) in paragraph (1)(C), in the matter fol2 lowing clause (ii), by striking ‘‘a substantial

3 cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof,’’

4 and inserting ‘‘causing or threatening to cause

5 serious injury’’;

6 (C) by amending paragraph (2)(A) to read

7 as follows:

8 ‘‘(2)(A) When a petition filed under subsection

9 (a) or a request filed under subsection (b) alleges

10 that critical circumstances exist and requests that

11 provisional relief be provided under this subsection

12 with respect to imports of the article identified in

13 the petition or request, the Commission shall, not

14 later than 45 days after the petition or request is

15 filed, determine, on the basis of available informa16 tion, whether—

17 ‘‘(i) there is clear evidence that increased

18 imports (either actual or relative to domestic

19 production) of the article are causing or threat20 ening to cause serious injury to the domestic in21 dustry producing an article like or directly com22 petitive with the imported article; and

23 ‘‘(ii) delay in taking action under this

24 chapter would cause damage to that industry

25 that would be difficult to repair.
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1 In making the determination under clause (ii), the

2 Commission should consider, among other factors

3 that it considers relevant, the timing and volume of

4 the imports, including whether there has been an in5 crease in imports over a short period of time, and

6 any other circumstances indicating that delay in tak7 ing action under this chapter would cause damage to

8 the industry that would be difficult to repair.’’; and

9 (D) in paragraph (2)(D), by striking ‘‘30’’

10 and inserting ‘‘20’’.

11 (c) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATIONS.—

12 (1) ACTION BY PRESIDENT.—Section 203(a) of

13 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(a)) is

14 amended—

15 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘and

16 provide greater economic and social benefits

17 than costs’’ and inserting ‘‘and will not have an

18 adverse impact on the United States substan19 tially out of proportion to the benefits of such

20 action’’;

21 (B) in paragraph (2)(F), by striking the

22 semicolon at the end of clause (iii) and insert23 ing a comma;

24 (C) in paragraph (2)(F), by inserting im25 mediately after clause (iii) the following:
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1 ‘‘except that the President shall give substan2 tially greater weight to the factors set out in

3 clause (i) than to those set out in clauses (ii)

4 and (iii);’’;

5 (D) by amending paragraph (2)(I) to read

6 as follows:

7 ‘‘(I) the potential for harm to the national

8 security interests of the United States; and’’;

9 and

10 (E) at the end of paragraph (2), add the

11 following flush sentence:

12 ‘‘In taking into account the factors under this para13 graph, the President shall give greater weight to the

14 recommendation and report of the Commission.’’.

15 (2) IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION REC16 OMMENDED BY COMMISSION.—

17 (A) JOINT RESOLUTION.—Section 203(c)

18 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(c))

19 is amended by striking ‘‘90’’ and inserting

20 ‘‘45’’.

21 (B) COMPUTATION OF TIME.—Section

22 152(c)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C.

23 2192(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘not count24 ing any day which is excluded under section

25 154(b),’’ and inserting ‘‘counting all calendar
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1 days in the case of a resolution described in

2 subsection (a)(1)(A), and not counting any day

3 which is excluded under section 154(b) in the

4 case of a resolution described in subsection (a)

5 (1)(B) or (2),’’.

6 (d) MONITORING, MODIFICATION, AND TERMINATION

7 OF ACTION.—Section 204(a)(4) of the Trade Act of 1974

8 (19 U.S.C. 2254(a)(4)) is amended by striking ‘‘Upon re9 quest of the President, the’’ and inserting ‘‘The’’.

10 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

11 (1) Section 203(e)(6)(B) of the Trade Act of

12 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(e)(6)(B)) is amended by

13 striking ‘‘substantially’’.

14 (2) Section 264(c) of the Trade Act of 1974

15 (19 U.S.C. 2354(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘a sub16 stantial cause of serious injury or threat thereof’’

17 and inserting ‘‘causing or threatening to cause seri18 ous injury’’.

19 (3) Section 154(b) of the Trade Act of 1974

20 (19 U.S.C. 2194(b)) is amended by striking the

21 matter that precedes paragraph (1) and inserting

22 the following:

23 ‘‘(b) The 90-day period referred to in section

24 407(c)(2) shall be computed by excluding—’’.
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1 SEC. 3. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 332 OF THE TARIFF ACT

2 OF 1930.

3 Section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.

4 1332) is amended by adding at the end the following:

5 ‘‘(h) REQUEST FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT IM6 PORT MONITORING.—

7 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Any entity, including a

8 trade association, firm, certified or recognized union,

9 or group of workers, which is representative of a do10 mestic industry that produces an agricultural prod11 uct that is like or directly competitive with an im12 ported agricultural product, may file a request with

13 the President pursuant to paragraph (2) for the

14 monitoring of imports of such agricultural product

15 under subsection (g).

16 ‘‘(2) TIME FOR PRESIDENTIAL ACTION.—If the

17 request filed under paragraph (1) alleges that an ag18 ricultural product is being imported into the United

19 States in such increased quantities as to cause seri20 ous injury, or threat thereof, to a domestic industry,

21 the President, within 45 days after receiving the re22 quest, shall determine if monitoring is appropriate.

23 ‘‘(3) MONITORING BY COMMISSION.—If the de24 termination under paragraph (2) is affirmative, the

25 President shall request, under subsection (g), that
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1 the Commission monitor and investigate the imports

2 concerned for a period not to exceed 2 years.’’.

3 SEC. 4. EARLY RELEASE OF IMPORT DATA.

4 In order to facilitate the early identification of poten5 tially disruptive import surges, the Director of the Office

6 of Management and Budget may grant an exception to

7 the publication dates established for the release of data

8 on United States international trade in goods and services

9 in order to permit public access to preliminary inter10 national trade import data, if the Director notifies Con11 gress of the early release of the data.

12 SEC. 5. ESTABLISHMENT OF IMPORT MONITORING PRO13 GRAM.

14 Section 301 of the Customs Procedural Reform and

15 Simplification Act of 1978 (19 U.S.C. 2075) is amended

16 by adding at the end the following:

17 ‘‘(h) AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IMPORT MONI18 TORING AND ENFORCEMENT SUPPORT PROGRAM.—There

19 is established an Agricultural Import Monitoring and En20 forcement Program—

21 ‘‘(1) to promote and defend policy with respect

22 to United States import safeguards and counter23 vailing or antidumping duty actions if challenged in

24 the World Trade Organization; and
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1 ‘‘(2) to identify foreign trade-distorting meas2 ures and develop policies and responsive actions to

3 address them.’’.

4 SEC. 6. HTS SUFFIX FOR MERCHANDISE SUBJECT TO ANTI5 DUMPING OR COUNTERVAILING DUTY

6 ORDER.

7 Section 484(f) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.

8 1484(f)) is amended—

9 (1) by striking ‘‘The Secretary’’ and inserting

10 ‘‘(1) The Secretary’’; and

11 (2) by adding at the end the following:

12 ‘‘(2) The Secretary of the Treasury, the Secretary of

13 Commerce, and the International Trade Commission shall

14 establish a suffix to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of

15 the United States for merchandise that is subject to coun16 tervailing duty orders or antidumping duty orders under

17 title VII of this Act, or subject to actions by the President

18 under chapter 1 of title II, or section 406, of the Trade

19 Act of 1974.’’.

20 SEC. 7. PRODUCT MONITORING.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce shall

22 monitor imports on a quarterly basis for import surges

23 and potential unfair trade through the year 2005. Prod24 ucts to be monitored shall be determined by the Secretary

25 of Commerce based on the import surge data compiled by
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1 the Secretary, but shall include, at a minimum, agricul2 tural products and other import-sensitive products identi3 fied by United States industries or entities representative

4 of a United States industry that meet the necessary cri5 teria established by the Secretary. In determining whether

6 to monitor imports of a specific product, the Secretary

7 shall consider the percentage increase in imports, the vol8 ume or value of imports, as appropriate, the level of im9 port penetration, and any other factors the Secretary con10 siders necessary.

11 (b) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Within 30 days

12 after the release of the official December import statistics

13 for calendar year 1999 and each year thereafter through

14 calendar year 2005, the Secretary of Commerce shall sub15 mit a report to Congress summarizing the monitoring ac16 tivities under this section for that calendar year and iden17 tifying products to be monitored in the next calendar year.

18 In addition, in the report to Congress covering calendar

19 year 2004, the Secretary of Commerce shall determine

20 whether trade conditions during the calendar year 2004

21 merit extending the import monitoring program beyond

22 the program’s scheduled expiration at the end of calendar

23 year 2005.
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1 SEC. 8. ITC INVESTIGATION OF ANTICOMPETITIVE PRAC2 TICES IN INTERNATIONAL AGRICULTURAL

3 PRODUCTS TRADE.

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 30 days after the

5 date of enactment of this Act, the United States Inter6 national Trade Commission shall commence an investiga7 tion under section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930—

8 (1) to collect information on anticompetitive

9 practices in the international trade of agricultural

10 products;

11 (2) to assess the adverse effects of such prac12 tices on United States producers, workers, and con13 sumers;

14 (3) to collect information on import licensing

15 arrangements of other members of the World Trade

16 Organization; and

17 (4) to report to the Committees on Ways and

18 Means and Agriculture of the House of Representa19 tives, the Committees on Finance and Agriculture,

20 Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate, and the

21 United States Trade Representative on its findings

22 within 1 year after the date of enactment of this

23 Act.

24 (b) INCLUSION IN NATIONAL TRADE ESTIMATE RE25 PORT.—The United States Trade Representative shall in26 clude the findings of the International Trade Commission
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1 under subsection (a) in a special section of the report sub2 mitted under section 181(b) of the Trade Act of 1974

3 after the 1-year period beginning on the date of enactment

4 of this Act. In that section, the Trade Representative shall

5 identify and explain any anticompetitive practices in the

6 international trade of agricultural products, evaluate the

7 compatibility of import licensing programs with obliga8 tions under the World Trade Organization, and propose

9 steps to be taken to address anticompetitive practices and

10 practices inconsistent with the World Trade Organization.

11 (c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the term ‘‘anti12 competitive practices in the international trade of agricul13 tural products’’ means—

14 (1) monopolies or cartels, whether or not sanc15 tioned by government authorities, which restrict the

16 output, delivery, or pricing of agricultural products;

17 (2) agreements between agricultural products

18 producers, whether or not sanctioned by government

19 authorities, to restrict the flow of agricultural prod20 ucts or limit price competition in the international

21 trade of agricultural products; and

22 (3) coercion or threats by manufacturers to dis23 tributors or consumers which have the effect of re24 stricting imports of agricultural products.

Æ