II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1746

To authorize negotiation of a free trade agreement with the Republic of

Turkey, to provide authority for the implementation of the agreement,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

OCTOBER 18, 1999

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

referred to the Committee on Finance

A BILL

To authorize negotiation of a free trade agreement with

the Republic of Turkey, to provide authority for the

implementation of the agreement, 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 ‘‘United States-Turkey

5 Free Trade Agreement Act of 1999’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress makes the following findings:

8 (1) The Republic of Turkey (in this Act re9 ferred to as ‘‘Turkey’’) has played an important
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1 strategic, political, and economic role in Europe,

2 Asia, and the Middle East since its founding in

3 1923 by Mustafa Kemal ‘‘Ataturk’’ following the

4 collapse of the 600-year Ottoman Empire.

5 (2) The friendship shared between the United

6 States and Turkey dates to the late 18th century

7 and was consecrated by the Treaty of Commerce and

8 Navigation between the United States and the Otto9 man Empire in 1830.

10 (3) The United States reaffirmed its relation11 ship with Turkey by entering into the Treaty of

12 Commerce and Navigation of 1929.

13 (4) The United States and Turkey have subse14 quently entered into over 60 treaties, memoranda of

15 understanding, and other agreements on a broad

16 range of issues, including a bilateral investment

17 treaty (1986), a bilateral tax treaty (1998), and a

18 trade and investment framework agreement (1999),

19 as evidence of their strong friendship.

20 (5) Turkey is located in the strategic corridor

21 between Europe and Asia, bordering the Black Sea

22 and the Mediterranean Sea.

23 (6) Turkey has been a strategic partner of the

24 United States since it joined the allies at the end of

25 World War II.
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1 (7) The strategic alliance between Turkey and

2 the United States was cemented by—

3 (A) the agreement of July 12, 1947 imple4 menting the Truman doctrine;

5 (B) Turkey’s membership in the North At6 lantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952;

7 and

8 (C) the United States-Turkey Agreement

9 for Cooperation on Defense and Economy of

10 1980.

11 (8) Turkey is also an important industrialized

12 economy and was a founding member of the Organi13 zation for Economic Cooperation and Development

14 (OECD) and the United Nations.

15 (9) Turkey has made significant progress since

16 the 1980’s in liberalizing its economy and inte17 grating with the global economy.

18 (10) Turkey has joined other nations in advo19 cating an open trading system through its member20 ship in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

21 and the World Trade Organization.

22 (11) Despite the deep friendship between the

23 United States and Turkey, their trading relationship

24 remains small.
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1 (12) In 1998, United States merchandise ex2 ports to Turkey reached $3,500,000,000.

3 (13) In 1998, United States imports from Tur4 key totaled $2,500,000,000 or less than 0.3 percent

5 of United States total imports.

6 (14) A free trade agreement between the

7 United States and Turkey would greatly benefit both

8 the United States and Turkey by expanding their

9 commercial ties.

10 SEC. 3. NEGOTIATING OBJECTIVES FOR A UNITED STATES11 TURKEY FREE TRADE AGREEMENT.

12 The overall trade negotiating objectives of the United

13 States with respect to a United States-Turkey Free Trade

14 Agreement are to obtain—

15 (1) more open, equitable, and reciprocal market

16 access between the United States and Turkey; and

17 (2) the reduction or elimination of barriers and

18 other trade-distorting policies and practices that in19 hibit trade between the United States and Turkey.

20 SEC. 4. NEGOTIATION OF A UNITED STATES-TURKEY FREE

21 TRADE AGREEMENT.

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to sections 5 and 6, the

23 President is authorized to enter into an agreement de24 scribed in subsection (c). The provisions of section 151(c)

25 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191(c)) shall apply
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1 with respect to a bill to implement such agreement if such

2 agreement is entered into on or before December 31,

3 2005.

4 (b) TARIFF PROCLAMATION AUTHORITY.—

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The President is authorized

6 to proclaim—

7 (A) such modification or continuation of

8 any existing duty,

9 (B) such continuance of existing duty-free

10 or excise treatment, or

11 (C) such additional duties

12 as the President determines to be required or appro13 priate to carry out the trade agreement described in

14 subsection (c).

15 (2) LIMITATIONS.—No proclamation may be

16 made under paragraph (1) that—

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

18 rate of duty that does not exceed 5 percent ad

19 valorem on the date of enactment of this Act)

20 to a rate which is less than 50 percent of the

21 rate of such duty that applies on such date of

22 enactment;

23 (B) provides for a reduction of duty on an

24 article to take effect on a date that is more

25 than 10 years after the first reduction that is
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1 proclaimed to carry out a trade agreement with

2 respect to such article; or

3 (C) increases any rate of duty above the

4 rate that applied on the date of enactment of

5 this Act.

6 (3) AGGREGATE REDUCTION; EXEMPTION FROM

7 STAGING.—

8 (A) AGGREGATE REDUCTION.—Except as

9 provided in subparagraph (B), the aggregate re10 duction in the rate of duty on any article which

11 is in effect on any day pursuant to a trade

12 agreement entered into under paragraph (1)

13 shall not exceed the aggregate reduction which

14 would have been in effect on such day if—

15 (i) a reduction of 3 percent ad valo16 rem or a reduction of one-tenth of the total

17 reduction, whichever is greater, had taken

18 effect on the effective date of the first re19 duction proclaimed under paragraph (1) to

20 carry out such agreement with respect to

21 such article; and

22 (ii) a reduction equal to the amount

23 applicable under clause (i) had taken effect

24 at 1-year intervals after the effective date

25 of such first reduction.
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1 (B) EXEMPTION FROM STAGING.—No

2 staging under subparagraph (A) is required

3 with respect to a rate reduction that is pro4 claimed under paragraph (1) for an article of a

5 kind that is not produced in the United States.

6 The United States International Trade Com7 mission shall advise the President of the iden8 tity of articles that may be exempted from stag9 ing under this subparagraph.

10 (4) ROUNDING.—If the President determines

11 that such action will simplify the computation of re12 ductions under paragraph (3), the President may

13 round an annual reduction by the lesser of—

14 (A) the difference between the reduction

15 without regard to this paragraph and the next

16 lower whole number; or

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

18 (5) OTHER LIMITATIONS.—A rate of duty re19 duction or increase that may not be proclaimed by

20 reason of paragraph (2) may take effect only if a

21 provision authorizing such reduction or increase is

22 included within an implementing bill provided for

23 under section 6(c) and that bill is enacted into law.

24 (c) AGREEMENT DESCRIBED.—An agreement de25 scribed in this subsection means a bilateral agreement be-
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1 tween the United States and Turkey that provides for the

2 reduction and ultimate elimination of tariffs and nontariff

3 barriers to trade and the eventual establishment of a free

4 trade agreement between the United States and Turkey.

5 SEC. 5. CONSULTATIONS WITH CONGRESS ON NEGOTIA6 TIONS OF A UNITED STATES-TURKEY FREE

7 TRADE AGREEMENT.

8 Before entering into any trade agreement under sec9 tion 4 (including immediately before initialing an agree10 ment), the President shall consult closely and on a timely

11 basis on the nature of the agreement and the extent to

12 which it will achieve the purposes of this Act with—

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

14 House of Representatives and the Committee on Fi15 nance of the Senate;

16 (2) the congressional advisers for trade policy

17 and negotiations appointed under section 161 of the

18 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2211); and

19 (3) each other committee of the House of Rep20 resentatives and the Senate, and each joint com21 mittee of Congress, which has jurisdiction over legis22 lation involving subject matters that would be af23 fected by the trade agreement.
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1 SEC. 6. IMPLEMENTATION OF UNITED STATES-TURKEY

2 FREE TRADE AGREEMENT.

3 (a) NOTIFICATION AND SUBMISSION.—Any agree4 ment entered into under section 4 shall enter into force

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

6 (1) the President, at least 60 calendar days be7 fore the day on which the President enters into the

8 trade agreement, notifies the House of Representa9 tives and the Senate of the President’s intention to

10 enter into the agreement, and promptly thereafter

11 publishes notice of such intention in the Federal

12 Register;

13 (2) within 60 calendar days after entering into

14 the agreement, the President submits to Congress a

15 description of those changes to existing laws that the

16 President considers would be required in order to

17 bring the United States into compliance with the

18 agreement;

19 (3) after entering into the agreement, the Presi20 dent submits a copy of the final legal text of the

21 agreement, together with—

22 (A) a draft of an implementing bill de23 scribed in subsection (c);

24 (B) a statement of any administrative ac25 tion proposed to implement the trade agree26 ment; and
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1 (C) the supporting information described

2 in subsection (b); and

3 (4) the implementing bill is enacted into law.

4 (b) SUPPORTING INFORMATION.—The supporting in5 formation required under subsection (a)(3)(C) consists

6 of—

7 (1) an explanation as to how the implementing

8 bill and proposed administrative action will change

9 or affect existing law; and

10 (2) a statement—

11 (A) asserting that the agreement makes

12 progress in achieving the objectives of this Act;

13 and

14 (B) setting forth the reasons of the Presi15 dent regarding—

16 (i) how and to what extent the agree17 ment makes progress in achieving the ob18 jectives referred to in subparagraph (A);

19 (ii) whether and how the agreement

20 changes provisions of an agreement pre21 viously negotiated;

22 (iii) how the agreement serves the in23 terests of United States commerce; and

24 (iv) any proposed administrative ac25 tion.
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1 (c) BILLS QUALIFYING FOR TRADE AGREEMENT AP2 PROVAL PROCEDURES.—The provisions of section 151 of

3 the Trade Act of 1974 apply to an implementing bill sub4 mitted pursuant to subsection (b) that contains only—

5 (1) provisions that approve a trade agreement

6 entered into under section 4 that achieves the nego7 tiating objectives set forth in section 3 and the

8 statement of administrative action (if any) proposed

9 to implement such trade agreement;

10 (2) provisions that are—

11 (A) necessary to implement such agree12 ment; or

13 (B) otherwise related to the implementa14 tion, enforcement, and adjustment to the effects

15 of such trade agreement; and

16 (3) provisions necessary for purposes of com17 plying with section 252 of the Balanced Budget and

18 Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 in imple19 menting the applicable trade agreement.

20 SEC. 7. CONSIDERATION OF IMPLEMENTING BILL.

21 (a) CONGRESSIONAL CONSIDERATION OF IMPLE22 MENTING BILL.—When the President submits to Con23 gress a bill to implement the trade agreement as described

24 in section 6(c), the bill shall be introduced and considered
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1 pursuant to the provisions of section 151 of the Trade Act

2 of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191).

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—Section 151 of the

4 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2191) is amended—

5 (1) in subsection (b)(1), by inserting ‘‘section 6

6 of the United States-Turkey Free Trade Agreement

7 Act of 1999’’ after ‘‘the Omnibus Trade and Com8 petitiveness Act of 1988,’’; and

9 (2) in subsection (c)(1), by inserting ‘‘or under

10 section 6 of the United States-Turkey Free Trade

11 Agreement Act of 1999,’’ after ‘‘the Uruguay Round

12 Agreements Act,’’.

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