I

107TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1988

To amend United States trade laws to address more effectively import crises.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 24, 2001

Mr. ENGLISH (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. HOUGHTON, and Mr. LEVIN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways

and Means

A BILL

To amend United States trade laws to address more

effectively import crises.

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 ‘‘Trade Law Reform

5 Act of 2001’’.
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1 TITLE I—SAFEGUARD

2 AMENDMENTS

3 SEC. 101. AMENDMENTS TO CHAPTER 1 OF TITLE II OF THE

4 TRADE ACT OF 1974.

5 (a) TEST FOR POSITIVE ADJUSTMENTS TO IMPORT

6 COMPETITION.—Section 201(a) of the Trade Act of 1974

7 (19 U.S.C. 2251(a)) is amended by striking ‘‘be a sub8 stantial cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof,’’ and

9 inserting ‘‘cause or threaten to cause serious injury’’.

10 (b) INVESTIGATIONS AND DETERMINATIONS.—Sec11 tion 202 of such Act (19 U.S.C. 2252) is amended—

12 (1) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘be a

13 substantial cause of serious injury, or the threat

14 thereof,’’ and inserting ‘‘cause or threaten to cause

15 serious injury’’;

16 (2) by amending subsection (b)(1)(B) to read

17 as follows:

18 ‘‘(B) For purposes of this section, the term

19 ‘cause’ refers to a cause that contributes signifi20 cantly to serious injury, or the threat thereof, to the

21 domestic industry but need not be equal to or great22 er than any other cause.’’;

23 (3) in subsection (c)—

24 (A) by amending paragraph (1)(A) to read

25 as follows:
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1 ‘‘(A) with respect to serious injury—

2 ‘‘(i) change in the level of sales, pro3 duction, productivity, capacity utilization,

4 profits and losses, and employment,

5 ‘‘(ii) the significant idling of produc6 tive facilities in the domestic industry,

7 ‘‘(iii) the inability of a significant

8 number of firms to carry out domestic pro9 duction operations at a reasonable level of

10 profit, and

11 ‘‘(iv) significant unemployment or

12 underemployment within the domestic in13 dustry;’’;

14 (B) in paragraph (1)(B)—

15 (i) in clause (iii) by striking ‘‘; and’’

16 and inserting ‘‘, and’’; and

17 (ii) by inserting after clause (iii) the

18 following:

19 ‘‘(iv) foreign production capacity, for20 eign inventories, the level of demand in

21 third country markets, and the availability

22 of other export markets to absorb any ad23 ditional exports; and’’;

24 (C) by amending paragraph (1)(C) to read

25 as follows:
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1 ‘‘(C) with respect to cause—

2 ‘‘(i) the rate, amount, and timing of

3 the increase in imports of the product con4 cerned in absolute and relative terms, in5 cluding whether there has been a substan6 tial increase in imports over a short period

7 of time, and

8 ‘‘(ii) the share of the domestic market

9 taken by increased imports.’’;

10 (D) by redesignating paragraphs (3)

11 through (6) as paragraphs (5) through (8), re12 spectively;

13 (E) by striking paragraph (2) and insert14 ing the following:

15 ‘‘(2) In making determinations under para16 graph (1)(A) and (B), if domestic producers inter17 nally transfer, including to affiliated persons as de18 fined in section 771(33) of the Tariff Act of 1930,

19 significant production of the article like or directly

20 competitive with the imported article for the produc21 tion of a downstream article and sell significant pro22 duction of the article like or directly competitive

23 with the imported article in the merchant market,

24 then the Commission, in determining market share

25 and the factors affecting financial performance set
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1 forth in paragraph (1)(A) and (B), shall focus pri2 marily on the merchant market for the article like

3 or directly competitive with the imported article.

4 ‘‘(3) In making determinations under sub5 section (b), the Commission shall—

6 ‘‘(A) consider the condition of the domestic

7 industry over the course of the relevant busi8 ness cycle, but may not aggregate the causes of

9 declining demand associated with a recession or

10 economic downturn in the United States econ11 omy into a single cause of serious injury or

12 threat of injury; and

13 ‘‘(B) examine factors other than imports

14 which may cause or threaten to cause serious

15 injury to the domestic industry.

16 The Commission shall include the results of its ex17 amination under subparagraph (B) in the report

18 submitted by the Commission to the President under

19 subsection (e).

20 ‘‘(4) In making determinations under sub21 section (b), the Commission shall consider whether

22 any change in the volume of imports that has oc23 curred since a petition under subsection (a) was filed

24 or a request under subsection (b) was made is re25 lated to the pendency of the investigation, and if so,
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1 the Commission may reduce the weight accorded to

2 the data for the period after the petition under sub3 section (a) was filed or the request under subsection

4 (b) was made in making its determination of serious

5 injury, or the threat thereof.’’; and

6 (F) in paragraph (5), as so redesignated—

7 (i) by striking ‘‘and (B)’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘, (B), and (C)’’; and

9 (ii) by striking ‘‘be a substantial cause

10 of serious injury, or the threat thereof,’’

11 and inserting ‘‘cause or threaten to cause

12 serious injury’’;

13 (4) in subsection (d)—

14 (A) in paragraph (1)(A)(ii), by striking

15 ‘‘be, or likely to be a substantial cause of seri16 ous injury, or the threat thereof,’’ and inserting

17 ‘‘cause, or be likely to cause, or threaten to

18 cause, or be likely to threaten to cause, serious

19 injury’’;

20 (B) in paragraph (1)(C), in the matter fol21 lowing clause (ii), by striking ‘‘a substantial

22 cause of serious injury, or the threat thereof,’’

23 and inserting ‘‘causing or threatening to cause

24 serious injury’’;
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1 (C) by amending paragraph (2)(A) to read

2 as follows:

3 ‘‘(2)(A) When a petition filed under subsection

4 (a) or a request filed under subsection (b) alleges

5 that critical circumstances exist and requests that

6 provisional relief be provided under this subsection

7 with respect to imports of the article identified in

8 the petition or request, the Commission shall, not

9 later than 45 days after the petition or request is

10 filed, determine, on the basis of available informa11 tion, whether—

12 ‘‘(i) there is clear evidence that increased

13 imports (either actual or relative to domestic

14 production) of the article are causing or threat15 ening to cause serious injury to the domestic in16 dustry producing an article like or directly com17 petitive with the imported article; and

18 ‘‘(ii) delay in taking action under this

19 chapter would cause damage to that industry

20 that would be difficult to repair.

21 In making the evaluation under clause (ii), the Com22 mission should consider, among other factors that it

23 considers relevant, the timing and volume of the im24 ports, including whether there has been a substantial

25 increase in imports over a short period of time, and
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1 any other circumstances indicating that delay in tak2 ing action under this chapter would cause damage to

3 the industry that would be difficult to repair.’’; and

4 (D) in paragraph (2)(D), by striking ‘‘30’’

5 and inserting ‘‘20’’.

6 (c) PRESIDENTIAL DETERMINATIONS.—

7 (1) ACTION BY PRESIDENT.—Section 203(a) of

8 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(a)) is

9 amended—

10 (A) in paragraph (1)(A), by striking ‘‘and

11 provide greater economic and social benefits

12 than costs’’ and inserting ‘‘and will not have an

13 adverse impact on the United States clearly

14 greater than the benefits of such action’’;

15 (B) in paragraph (2)(F), by striking ‘‘com16 pensation;’’ at the end of clause (iii) and insert17 ing the following: ‘‘compensation, except that

18 the President shall give substantially greater

19 weight to the factors set out in clause (i) than

20 to those set out in clauses (ii) and (iii);’’; and

21 (C) by amending paragraph (2)(I) to read

22 as follows:

23 ‘‘(I) the potential for harm to the national

24 security of the United States; and’’.
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1 (2) IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION REC2 OMMENDED BY COMMISSION.—(A) Section 203(c) of

3 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(c)) is

4 amended by striking ‘‘90’’ and inserting ‘‘60’’.

5 (B) Section 152(c)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974

6 (19 U.S.C. 2192(c)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘not

7 counting any day which is excluded under section

8 154(b),’’ and inserting ‘‘counting all calendar days

9 in the case of a resolution described in subsection

10 (a)(1)(A), and not counting any day which is ex11 cluded under section 154(b) in the case of a resolu12 tion described in subsection (a)(1)(B),’’.

13 (d) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.—

14 (1) Section 203(e)(6)(B) of the Trade Act of

15 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2253(e)(6)(B)) is amended by

16 striking ‘‘substantially’’.

17 (2) Section 264(c) of the Trade Act of 1974

18 (19 U.S.C. 2354(c)) is amended by striking ‘‘a sub19 stantial cause of serious injury or threat thereof’’

20 and inserting ‘‘causing or threatening to cause seri21 ous injury’’.

22 (3) Section 154(b) of the Trade Act of 1974

23 (19 U.S.C. 2194(b)) is amended by striking the

24 matter that precedes paragraph (1) and inserting

25 the following:
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1 ‘‘(b) The 60-day period referred to in section 203(c)

2 and the 90-day period referred to in section 407(c)(2)

3 shall be computed by excluding—’’.

4 TITLE II—AMENDMENTS TO

5 TITLE VII OF THE TARIFF ACT

6 OF 1930

7 SEC. 201. CAPTIVE PRODUCTION.

8 Section 771(7)(C)(iv) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19

9 U.S.C. 1677(7)(C)(iv)) is amended to read as follows:

10 ‘‘(iv) CAPTIVE PRODUCTION.—If do11 mestic producers transfer internally, in12 cluding to affiliated persons as defined in

13 paragraph (33), significant production of

14 the domestic like product for the produc15 tion of a downstream article and sell sig16 nificant production of the domestic like

17 product in the merchant market, then the

18 Commission, in determining market share

19 and the factors affecting financial perform20 ance set forth in clause (iii), shall focus

21 primarily on the merchant market for the

22 domestic like product.’’.
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1 SEC. 202. PRICE.

2 Section 771(7)(C)(ii) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19

3 U.S.C. 1677(7)(C)(ii)) is amended by adding at the end

4 the following flush sentence:

5 ‘‘The Commission shall not conclude that

6 imports of the subject merchandise do not

7 have a significant effect on prices merely

8 because of the volume of imports of the

9 subject merchandise.’’.

10 SEC. 203. VULNERABILITY OF INDUSTRY.

11 Section 771(7)(C)(iii) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19

12 U.S.C. 1677(7)(C)(iii)) is amended in the last sentence

13 by striking the period at the end and inserting ‘‘, including

14 whether the industry is vulnerable to the effects of imports

15 of the subject merchandise.’’.

16 SEC. 204. CAUSAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IMPORTS AND

17 INJURY.

18 Section 771(7)(E)(ii) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19

19 U.S.C. 1677(7)(E)(ii)) is amended by adding at the end

20 the following: ‘‘The Commission need not determine the

21 significance of imports of the subject merchandise relative

22 to other economic factors.’’.

23 SEC. 205. PREVENTION OF CIRCUMVENTION.

24 Section 781(c) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.

25 1677j(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following

26 new paragraph:
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1 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE.—The administering au2 thority shall apply paragraph (1) with respect to al3 tered merchandise excluded from or not specifically

4 included in the merchandise description used in an

5 outstanding order or finding, if such application is

6 not inconsistent with the affirmative determination

7 of the Commission on which the order or finding is

8 based.’’.

9 SEC. 206. PERISHABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.

10 (a) DEFINITION OF INDUSTRIES.—Section 771(4)(A)

11 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1677(4)(A)) is

12 amended by adding at the end the following: ‘‘If the Com13 mission determines that an agricultural product has a

14 short shelf life and is a perishable product, the Commis15 sion shall treat the producers of the product in a defined

16 period or season as the domestic industry. If the sub17 heading under the Harmonized Tariff Schedules of the

18 United States for an agricultural product has a 6- or 8-

19 digit classification based on the period of time during the

20 calendar year in which the product is harvested or im21 ported, such periods of time constitute a defined period

22 or season for purposes of this paragraph.’’.

23 (b) DETERMINATION OF INJURY.—Section

24 771(7)(D) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.
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1 1677(7)(D)) is amended by adding at the end the fol2 lowing new clauses:

3 ‘‘(iii) In the case of an agricultural in4 dustry involving a perishable product with

5 a short shelf life, if a request for seasonal

6 evaluation has been made by the peti7 tioners, the Commission shall consider the

8 factors in subparagraph (C) on a seasonal

9 basis during the period identified as rel10 evant.

11 ‘‘(iv) In the case of agricultural prod12 ucts, partially picked or unpicked crops

13 and abandoned acreage may be considered

14 in lieu of other measures of capacity and

15 capacity utilization.

16 ‘‘(v) The impact of other factors, such

17 as weather, on agricultural production and

18 producers shall not be weighed against the

19 contribution of the imported subject mer20 chandise to the condition of the domestic

21 industry.’’.
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1 SEC. 207. FULL RECOGNITION OF SUBSIDY CONFERRED

2 THROUGH PROVISION OF GOODS AND SERV3 ICES AND PURCHASE OF GOODS.

4 Section 771(5)(E) of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19

5 U.S.C. 1677(5)(E)) is amended by adding at the end the

6 following: ‘‘If transactions in the country which is the sub7 ject of the investigation or review do not reflect market

8 conditions due to government action associated with provi9 sion of the good or service or purchase of the goods, deter10 mination of the adequacy of remuneration shall be through

11 comparison with the most comparable market price else12 where in the world.’’.

13 TITLE III—STEEL IMPORT NOTI14 FICATION AND MONITORING;

15 EARLY RELEASE OF IMPORT

16 DATA

17 SEC. 301. STEEL IMPORT NOTIFICATION AND MONITORING

18 PROGRAM.

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

20 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Com21 merce, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury,

22 shall establish and implement a steel import notification

23 and monitoring program. The program shall include a re24 quirement that any person importing a product classified

25 under chapter 72 or 73 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule

26 of the United States obtain an import notification certifi-
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1 cate before such products are entered into the United

2 States.

3 (b) STEEL IMPORT NOTIFICATION CERTIFICATES.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—In order to obtain a steel

5 import notification certificate, an importer shall sub6 mit to the Secretary of Commerce an application

7 containing—

8 (A) the importer’s name and address;

9 (B) the name and address of the supplier

10 of the goods to be imported;

11 (C) the name and address of the producer

12 of the goods to be imported;

13 (D) the country of origin of the goods;

14 (E) the country from which the goods are

15 to be imported;

16 (F) the United States Customs port of

17 entry where the goods will be entered;

18 (G) the expected date of entry of the goods

19 into the United States;

20 (H) a description of the goods, including

21 the classification of such goods under the Har22 monized Tariff Schedule of the United States;

23 (I) the quantity (in kilograms and net

24 tons) of the goods to be imported;
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1 (J) the cost insurance freight (CIF) and

2 free alongside ship (FAS) values of the goods to

3 be entered;

4 (K) whether the goods are being entered

5 for consumption or for entry into a bonded

6 warehouse or foreign trade zone;

7 (L) a certification that the information

8 furnished in the certificate application is cor9 rect; and

10 (M) any other information the Secretary of

11 Commerce determines to be necessary and ap12 propriate.

13 (2) ENTRY INTO CUSTOMS TERRITORY.—In the

14 case of merchandise classified under chapter 72 or

15 73 of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United

16 States that is initially entered into a bonded ware17 house or foreign trade zone, a steel import notifica18 tion certificate shall be required before the merchan19 dise is entered into the customs territory of the

20 United States.

21 (3) ISSUANCE OF STEEL IMPORT NOTIFICATION

22 CERTIFICATE.—The Secretary of Commerce shall

23 issue a steel import notification certificate to any

24 person who files an application that meets the re25 quirements of this section. Such certificate shall be
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1 valid for a period of 30 days from the date of

2 issuance.

3 (c) STATISTICAL INFORMATION.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Commerce

5 shall compile and publish on a weekly basis informa6 tion described in paragraph (2).

7 (2) INFORMATION DESCRIBED.—Information

8 described in this paragraph means information ob9 tained from steel import notification certificate ap10 plications concerning steel imported into the United

11 States and includes with respect to such imports the

12 Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States

13 classification (to the tenth digit), the country of ori14 gin, the port of entry, quantity, value of steel im15 ported, and whether the imports are entered for con16 sumption or are entered into a bonded warehouse or

17 foreign trade zone. Such information shall also be

18 compiled in aggregate form and made publicly avail19 able by the Secretary of Commerce on a weekly basis

20 by public posting through an Internet website. The

21 information provided under this section shall be in

22 addition to any information otherwise required by

23 law.

24 (d) FEES.—The Secretary of Commerce may pre25 scribe reasonable fees and charges to defray the costs of
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1 carrying out the provisions of this section, including a fee

2 for issuing a certificate under this section.

3 (e) SINGLE PRODUCER AND EXPORTER COUN4 TRIES.—Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the

5 Secretary of Commerce shall make publicly available all

6 information required to be released pursuant to subsection

7 (c), including information obtained regarding imports

8 from a foreign producer or exporter that is the only pro9 ducer or exporter of goods subject to this section from a

10 foreign country.

11 (f) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Commerce may

12 prescribe such rules and regulations relating to the steel

13 import notification and monitoring program as may be

14 necessary to carry the provisions of this section.

15 SEC. 302. AMENDMENTS TO SECTION 332 OF THE TARIFF

16 ACT OF 1930.

17 Section 332 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C.

18 1332) is amended by adding at the end the following:

19 ‘‘(h)(1) Any entity, including a trade association,

20 firm, certified or recognized union, or group of workers,

21 which is representative of a domestic industry that pro22 duces an article that is like or directly competitive with

23 an imported article, may file a request with the President

24 pursuant to paragraph (2) for the monitoring of imports

25 of such article under subsection (g).
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1 ‘‘(2) If the request filed under paragraph (1) alleges

2 that an article is being imported into the United States

3 in such increased quantities as to cause serious injury, or

4 threat thereof, to a domestic industry, the President, with5 in 45 days after receiving the request, shall determine if

6 monitoring is appropriate.

7 ‘‘(3) If the determination under paragraph (2) is af8 firmative, the President shall request, under subsection

9 (g), the Commission to monitor and investigate the im10 ports concerned for a period not to exceed 2 years.’’.

11 SEC. 303. EARLY RELEASE OF IMPORT DATA.

12 In order to facilitate the early identification of poten13 tially disruptive import surges, the Director of the Office

14 of Management and Budget may grant an exception to

15 the publication dates established for the release of data

16 on United States international trade in goods and services

17 in order to permit public access to preliminary inter18 national trade import data, if the Director notifies the

19 Congress of the early release of the data.

20 TITLE IV—MISCELLANEOUS

21 PROVISIONS

22 SEC. 401. CONSTRUCTION.

23 The amendments made by this Act shall not be con24 strued to create any inference with respect to the interpre25 tation of the provisions of law amended by this Act as
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1 such provisions were in effect before the enactment of this

2 Act.

3 SEC. 402. APPLICATION TO GOODS FROM CANADA AND

4 MEXICO.

5 Pursuant to section 1902 of the North American

6 Free Trade Agreement and section 408 of the North

7 American Free Trade Agreement Implementation Act, the

8 amendments made by this Act shall apply to goods from

9 Canada and Mexico.

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