II

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1648

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, and Mr. BINGAMAN) 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 (as determined by

13 the Secretary), the Secretary shall take appropriate

14 measures to protect the interests of producers of

15 United States agricultural commodities and ensure

16 the international competitiveness of United States

17 agriculture.

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

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

20 practicable—

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

22 sensitive export markets for feed grains; and

23 ‘‘(B) make available to carry out the ex24 port enhancement program under section

25 301(e)(1) not more than $1,000,000,000 to en26 courage the commercial sale of United States
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1 agricultural commodities in European Union

2 markets.

3 ‘‘(b) ELIMINATION OF AGRICULTURAL EXPORT SUB4 SIDIES.—

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

6 European Union and the United States do not enter

7 into an agricultural trade agreement under which

8 the European Union agrees to eliminate agricultural

9 export subsidies (as determined by the Secretary),

10 the Secretary shall take appropriate measures to

11 protect the interests of producers of United States

12 agricultural commodities and ensure the inter13 national competitiveness of United States agri14 culture.

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

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

17 practicable—

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

19 sensitive export markets for feed grains;

20 ‘‘(B) make available to carry out the ex21 port enhancement program under section

22 301(e)(1) not more than $2,000,000,000 to en23 courage the commercial sale of United States

24 agricultural commodities in European Union

25 markets;
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1 ‘‘(C) increase the amount of funds made

2 available to carry out direct credit programs

3 and export credit guarantee programs under

4 subsections (a) and (b) of section 211 to pro5 mote the commercial export sale of United

6 States agricultural commodities in European

7 Union markets; and

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

9 available to carry out the market access pro10 gram under section 211(c)(1) to encourage the

11 development, maintenance, and expansion of

12 commercial export markets for United States

13 agricultural commodities in European Union

14 markets.’’.

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