II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1651

To amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to require the Secretary

of Agriculture to take certain actions if the European Union does not

reduce and subsequently eliminate agricultural export subsidies.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 28, 1999

Mr. BAUCUS (for himself, Mr. GORTON, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr. CRAIG, and Mrs.

MURRAY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To amend the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 to require

the Secretary of Agriculture to take certain actions if

the European Union does not reduce and subsequently

eliminate agricultural export subsidies.

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 ‘‘Agricultural Trade

5 Fairness Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—
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1 (1) United States agricultural producers are

2 facing financial ruin due to unanticipated declines in

3 prices for agricultural commodities;

4 (2) foreign export subsidies of agricultural com5 modities depress prices further and prevent access to

6 export markets by United States agricultural pro7 ducers;

8 (3) the European Union, the entity that pro9 vides by far the largest agricultural export subsidies,

10 provides 84 percent of the agricultural export sub11 sidies provided in the world;

12 (4) the export enhancement program carried

13 out by the United States under section 301 of the

14 Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7 U.S.C. 5651) is

15 authorized to be funded at over $500,000,000 for

16 each of fiscal years 1998 through 2000 (consistent

17 with the Uruguay Round reduction commitments),

18 but has been funded at well below the authorized

19 levels; and

20 (5) the European Union continues to use agri21 cultural export subsidies to bridge the gap between

22 high domestic support prices and lower world prices,

23 resulting in extreme market distortions.
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1 SEC. 3. RESPONSE TO UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES BY EURO2 PEAN UNION.

3 Title III of the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 (7

4 U.S.C. 5651 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

5 the following:

6 ‘‘SEC. 304. RESPONSE TO UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES BY EU7 ROPEAN UNION.

8 ‘‘(a) REDUCTION OF AGRICULTURAL EXPORT SUB9 SIDIES.—

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If by January 1, 2002, the

11 European Union does not reduce agricultural export

12 subsidies by at least 50 percent of the level of agri13 cultural export subsidies provided as of October 1,

14 1999 (as determined by the Secretary), the Sec15 retary shall take appropriate measures to protect the

16 interests of producers of United States agricultural

17 commodities and ensure the international competi18 tiveness of United States agriculture.

19 ‘‘(2) MEASURES.—In carrying out paragraph

20 (1), the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent

21 practicable—

22 ‘‘(A) target the European Union’s most

23 sensitive export markets for feed grains; and

24 ‘‘(B) make available to carry out the ex25 port enhancement program under section

26 301(e)(1) not more than $1,000,000,000 to en-
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1 courage the commercial sale of United States

2 agricultural commodities in the chief export

3 markets of the European Union.

4 ‘‘(b) ELIMINATION OF AGRICULTURAL EXPORT SUB5 SIDIES.—

6 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—If by January 1, 2003, the

7 European Union and the United States do not enter

8 into an agricultural trade agreement under which

9 the European Union agrees to eliminate agricultural

10 export subsidies (as determined by the Secretary),

11 the Secretary shall take appropriate measures to

12 protect the interests of producers of United States

13 agricultural commodities and ensure the inter14 national competitiveness of United States agri15 culture.

16 ‘‘(2) MEASURES.—In carrying out paragraph

17 (1), the Secretary shall, to the maximum extent

18 practicable—

19 ‘‘(A) target the European Union’s most

20 sensitive export markets for feed grains;

21 ‘‘(B) make available to carry out the ex22 port enhancement program under section

23 301(e)(1) not more than $2,000,000,000 to en24 courage the commercial sale of United States
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1 agricultural commodities in the chief export

2 markets of the European Union;

3 ‘‘(C) increase the amount of funds made

4 available to carry out direct credit programs

5 and export credit guarantee programs under

6 subsections (a) and (b) of section 211 to pro7 mote the commercial export sale of United

8 States agricultural commodities in the chief ex9 port markets of the European Union; and

10 ‘‘(D) increase the amount of funds made

11 available to carry out the market access pro12 gram under section 211(c)(1) to encourage the

13 development, maintenance, and expansion of

14 commercial export markets for United States

15 agricultural commodities in the chief export

16 markets of the European Union.’’.

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