II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1043 

To require the United States Trade Representative to negotiate a remedy 

for the equitable border tax treatment on goods and services within 

the WTO by January 1, 2010, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 14, 2009 

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

to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To require the United States Trade Representative to negotiate a remedy for the equitable border tax treatment 

on goods and services within the WTO by January 1, 

2010, 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 ‘‘Border Tax Fairness 

5 Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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•S 1043 IS

1 (1) UNITED STATES TRADE NEGOTIATING

2 GOALS RELATING TO EQUITABLE BORDER TAX

3 TREATMENT.—The term ‘‘United States trade nego4 tiating goals relating to equitable border tax treat5 ment’’ means— 

6 (A) with respect to trade in goods, to ob7 tain a revision of the World Trade Organization 

8 rules with respect to the treatment of border 

9 adjustments for internal taxes to redress the 

10 disadvantage to countries relying primarily on 

11 direct taxes rather than indirect taxes for rev12 enue, as provided in section 2102(b)(15) of the 

13 Bipartisan Trade Promotion Authority Act of 

14 2002 (19 U.S.C. 3802(b)(15)); and 

15 (B) with respect to trade in services, to— 

16 (i) eliminate the disadvantage in trade 

17 in services that exists for countries relying 

18 primarily on direct taxes that are not ad19 justed at the border rather than indirect 

20 taxes that are adjusted at the border; and 

21 (ii) ensure that rules regarding trade 

22 in services do not result in disparate treat23 ment of border adjustments for internal 

24 taxes based on the direct or indirect nature 

25 of such taxes. 


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•S 1043 IS

1 (2) WTO NEGOTIATIONS.—The term ‘‘WTO 

2 negotiations’’ means any multilateral negotiations 

3 that may result in revisions to WTO agreements 

4 that meet the United States trade negotiating goals 

5 relating to equitable border tax treatment. 

6 (3) WTO.—The term ‘‘WTO’’ means the World 

7 Trade Organization established pursuant to the 

8 WTO Agreement. 

9 (4) WTO AGREEMENT.—The term ‘‘WTO 

10 Agreement’’ means the Agreement Establishing The 

11 World Trade Organization entered into on April 15, 

12 1994. 

13 SEC. 3. REQUIREMENT FOR NEGOTIATIONS. 

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

15 date of the enactment of this Act, the United States Trade 

16 Representative shall pursue WTO negotiations to meet the 

17 United States trade negotiating goals relating to equitable 

18 border tax treatment and shall submit a report on whether 

19 the United States trade negotiating goals relating to equi20 table border tax treatment have been met in revising the 

21 WTO rules. The report shall be submitted to the Com22 mittee on Finance of the Senate and the Committee on 

23 Ways and Means of the House of Representatives not later 

24 than the earlier of— 


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•S 1043 IS

1 (1) 60 days after completing WTO negotiations; 

2 or 

3 (2) January 1, 2010. 

4 (b) CONTENT OF REPORT; LEGISLATIVE REC5 OMMENDATIONS.—The report required by subsection (a) 

6 shall describe the negotiations regarding meeting United 

7 States trade negotiating goals relating to equitable border 

8 tax treatment and how the goals have been accomplished. 

9 If the goals with respect to trade in goods or trade in serv10 ices have not met, the report shall include recommenda11 tions for legislation to address the equitable border tax 

12 treatment for goods or services, as the case may be. The 

13 legislative recommendation shall also include— 

14 (1) recommendations for imposing a tax on im15 ports from any country that employs indirect taxes; 

16 and 

17 (2) recommendations for compensatory pay18 ments to eligible United States exporters to neu19 tralize the discriminatory effect of border taxes paid 

20 by such exporters. 

Æ 


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