I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 447

To establish a toll free number in the Department of Commerce to assist

consumers in determining if products are American-made.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

JANUARY 9, 1995

Mr. TRAFICANT introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Commerce

A BILL

To establish a toll free number in the Department of Commerce to assist consumers in determining if products

are American-made.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF TOLL FREE NUMBER

4 PILOT PROGRAM.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—If the Secretary of Commerce

6 determines, on the basis of comments submitted in rule7 making under section 2, that—

8 (1) interest among manufacturers is sufficient

9 to warrant the establishment of a 3-year toll free

10 number pilot program, and
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1 (2) manufacturers will provide fees under sec2 tion 2(c) so that the program will operate without

3 cost to the Federal Government,

4 the Secretary shall establish such program solely to help

5 inform consumers whether a product is made in America

6 or the equivalent thereof. The Secretary shall publish the

7 toll-free number by notice in the Federal Register.

8 (b) CONTRACT.—The Secretary of Commerce shall

9 enter into a contract for—

10 (1) the establishment and operation of the toll

11 free number pilot program provided for in subsection

12 (a), and

13 (2) the registration of products pursuant to

14 regulations issued under section 2,

15 which shall be funded entirely from fees collected under

16 section 2(c).

17 (c) USE.—The toll free number shall be used solely

18 to inform consumers as to whether products are registered

19 under section 2 as made in America or the equivalent

20 thereof. Consumers shall also be informed that registra21 tion of a product does not mean—

22 (1) that the product is endorsed or approved by

23 the Government,

24 (2) that the Secretary has conducted any inves25 tigation to confirm that the product is a product
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1 which meets the definition of made in America or

2 the equivalent thereof, or

3 (3) that the product contains 100 percent Unit4 ed States content.

5 SEC. 2. REGISTRATION.

6 (a) PROPOSED REGULATION.—The Secretary of

7 Commerce shall propose a regulation—

8 (1) to establish a procedure under which the

9 manufacturer of a product may voluntarily register

10 such product as complying with the definition of a

11 product made in America or the equivalent thereof

12 and have such product included in the information

13 available through the toll free number established

14 under section 1(a);

15 (2) to establish, assess, and collect a fee to

16 cover all the costs (including start-up costs) of reg17 istering products and including registered products

18 in information provided under the toll-free number;

19 (3) for the establishment under section 1(a) of

20 the toll-free number pilot program; and

21 (4) to solicit views from the private sector con22 cerning the level of interest of manufacturers in reg23 istering products under the terms and conditions of

24 paragraph (1).
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1 (b) PROMULGATION.—If the Secretary determines

2 based on the comments on the regulation proposed under

3 subsection (a) that the toll-free number pilot program and

4 the registration of products is warranted, the Secretary

5 shall promulgate such regulations

6 (c) REGISTRATION FEE.—

7 (1) IN GENERAL.—Manufacturers of products

8 included in information provided under section 1

9 shall be subject to a fee imposed by the Secretary

10 of Commerce to pay the cost of registering products

11 and including them in information provided under

12 subsection (a).

13 (2) AMOUNT.—The amount of fees imposed

14 under paragraph (1) shall—

15 (A) in the case of a manufacturer, not be

16 greater than the cost of registering the manu17 facturer’s product and providing product infor18 mation directly attributable to such manufac19 turer, and

20 (B) in the case of the total amount of fees,

21 not be greater than the total amount appro22 priated to the Secretary of Commerce for sala23 ries and expenses directly attributable to reg24 istration of manufacturers and having products
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1 included in the information provided under sec2 tion 1(a).

3 (3) CREDITING AND AVAILABILITY OF FEES.—

4 (A) IN GENERAL.—Fees collected for a fis5 cal year pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be

6 credited to the appropriation account for sala7 ries and expenses of the Secretary of Commerce

8 and shall be available in accordance with appro9 priation Acts until expended without fiscal year

10 limitation.

11 (B) COLLECTIONS AND APPROPRIATION

12 ACTS.—The fees imposed under paragraph

13 (1)—

14 (i) shall be collected in each fiscal

15 year in an amount equal to the amount

16 specified in appropriation Acts for such fis17 cal year, and

18 (ii) shall only be collected and avail19 able for the costs described in paragraph

20 (2).

21 SEC. 3. PENALTY.

22 Any manufacturer of a product who knowingly reg23 isters a product under section 2 which is not made in

24 America or the equivalent thereof—
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1 (1) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not

2 more than $7500 which the Secretary of Commerce

3 may assess and collect, and

4 (2) shall not offer such product for purchase by

5 the Federal Government.

6 SEC. 4. DEFINITION.

7 For purposes of this Act:

8 (1) The term ‘‘made in America or the equiva9 lent thereof’’ means—

10 (A) an unmanufactured end product mined

11 or produced in the United States; or

12 (B) an end product manufactured in the

13 United States if the value of its components

14 mined, produced, or manufactured in the Unit15 ed States equals 90 percent or more of the total

16 value of all of its components.

17 (2) The term ‘‘product’’ means a product with

18 a retail value of at least $250.

19 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

20 Nothing in this Act or in any regulation promulgated

21 under section 2 shall be construed to alter, amend, modify,

22 or otherwise affect in any way, the Federal Trade Com23 mission Act or the opinions, decisions, and rules of the

24 Federal Trade Commission under such Act regarding the

25 use of the term ‘‘made in America or the equivalent there-
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1 of’’ in labels on products introduced, delivered for intro2 duction, sold, advertised, or offered for sale in commerce.

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