I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7153 

To foster commercial relations with foreign countries and support American 

business interests abroad in the conduct of foreign policy, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2018 

Mr. MCCAUL (for himself and Mr. SCHWEIKERT) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

A BILL 

To foster commercial relations with foreign countries and 

support American business interests abroad in the conduct of foreign policy, 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 ‘‘Championing Amer5 ican Business Through Diplomacy Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY WITHIN THE DEPARTMENT 

2 OF STATE. 

3 Subsection (c) of section 1 of the State Department 

4 Basic Authorities Act of 1956 (22 U.S.C. 2651a) is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) by redesignating paragraph (3) as para7 graph (4); and 

8 (2) by inserting after paragraph (2) the fol9 lowing new paragraph: 

10 ‘‘(3) ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR ECONOMIC

11 AND BUSINESS AFFAIRS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the numer13 ical limitation specified in paragraph (1), there 

14 is authorized to be established in the Depart15 ment of State an Assistant Secretary of State 

16 for Economic and Business Affairs who shall be 

17 responsible to the Secretary of State for mat18 ters pertaining to international economics and 

19 business matters in the conduct of foreign pol20 icy. 

21 ‘‘(B) MATTERS CONTEMPLATED.—The 

22 matters referred to in subparagraph (A) include 

23 the following: 

24 ‘‘(i) International trade and invest25 ment policy. 


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1 ‘‘(ii) International finance, develop2 ment, and debt policy. 

3 ‘‘(iii) Economic sanctions and com4 bating terrorist financing. 

5 ‘‘(iv) International transportation pol6 icy. 

7 ‘‘(v) Support for United States busi8 nesses. 

9 ‘‘(vi) Economic policy analysis, public 

10 diplomacy, and private sector outreach. 

11 ‘‘(vii) Such other related duties as the 

12 Secretary may from time to time des13 ignate.’’. 

14 SEC. 3. CHIEF OF MISSION RESPONSIBILITIES. 

15 Section 207 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 

16 U.S.C. 3927) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing new subsection: 

18 ‘‘(d) PROMOTION OF UNITED STATES ECONOMIC IN19 TERESTS.—Each chief of mission to a foreign country 

20 shall have as a principal duty the promotion of United 

21 States economic and business interests in such country.’’. 


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1 SEC. 4. INCREASED TRAINING IN ECONOMIC AND COMMER2 CIAL DIPLOMACY. 

3 Section 708 of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (22 

4 U.S.C. 4028) is amended by adding at the end the fol5 lowing new subsection: 

6 ‘‘(d) ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY.—The Secretary of 

7 State, with the assistance of other relevant officials of the 

8 Department of State, such as the Assistant Secretary for 

9 Economic and Business Affairs, shall establish as part of 

10 the standard training provided for officers of the Service, 

11 including chiefs of mission and deputy chiefs of mission, 

12 training on matters related to economic and commercial 

13 diplomacy, with particular attention to market access for 

14 United States businesses, commercial advocacy, and 

15 United States foreign economic policy.’’. 

16 SEC. 5. REPORT FROM EACH MISSION ON MATTERS OF 

17 COMMERCIAL RELATIONS. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the 

19 date of the enactment of this Act annually thereafter, the 

20 chief of mission at each United States embassy shall sub21 mit to the Secretary of State a report on the specific ac22 tions taken during the previous year to foster commercial 

23 relations and safeguard United States business interests 

24 in the country or region in which each such chief of mis25 sion serves. 


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1 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report re2 quired under subsection (a) shall include the following: 

3 (1) A list that includes the specific business sec4 tors and the number of companies by sector that 

5 each United States embassy aided over the course of 

6 the previous year in fostering commercial relations 

7 in the relevant country or region. 

8 (2) A description of actions each United States 

9 embassy took to aid the business sectors identified 

10 under paragraph (1). 

11 (3) An assessment of fields with respect to 

12 which each United States embassy can improve the 

13 ability of each such embassy to foster commercial re14 lations and safeguard United States business inter15 ests in the relevant country or region. 

16 (4) Information about significant foreign com17 petition to United States businesses in the relevant 

18 country or region, including state-directed invest19 ments by authoritarian governments and United 

20 States strategic competitors in such country or re21 gion, and whether or not such investments pose risks 

22 to United States foreign policy and national security 

23 interests in such country or region. 

24 (c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—The Secretary of State, 

25 upon receiving each report required under subsection (a) 


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1 from each chief of mission, shall submit to the Committee 

2 on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and 

3 the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate an an4 nual report on activities, including with appropriate exam5 ples, by the Department of State to promote United States 

6 business interests abroad, as well as actions and invest7 ments by foreign competitors that are determined to be 

8 risks to United States foreign policy and national security 

9 interests. 

10 (d) FORM OF REPORT.—The report described in sub11 section (c) shall be in unclassified form but may include 

12 classified annexes. 

13 SEC. 6. REPORT ON UNIFIED INVESTMENT CLIMATE STATE14 MENT AND COUNTRY COMMERCIAL GUIDE. 

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of State and the 

16 Secretary of Commerce shall jointly produce and make 

17 publicly available on an internet website of the Depart18 ment of State and the Department of Commerce, respec19 tively, an annual country-specific report regarding topics 

20 to foster commercial relations with foreign countries and 

21 safeguard United States business interests abroad, includ22 ing with regard to United States exports and investments, 

23 including by small- and medium-size enterprises. 


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1 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—Each report re2 quired under subsection (a) shall include the following 

3 with respect to each country covered by each such report: 

4 (1) Information about doing business in each 

5 country. 

6 (2) Background information about each coun7 try’s political environment. 

8 (3) Information about selling United States 

9 products and services in each country. 

10 (4) Leading sectors for United States exports 

11 and investment in each country. 

12 (5) Information about trade regulations, cus13 toms, and standards in each country, such as— 

14 (A) information on import tariffs; and 

15 (B) documentation about which United 

16 States businesses should be aware when export17 ing, including any prohibited items or tem18 porary entry procedures. 

19 (6) Investment climate statements describing 

20 each country’s openness to foreign investments, such 

21 as information relating to each country’s— 

22 (A) investment policies; 

23 (B) market barriers; 

24 (C) business risks; 


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1 (D) legal and regulatory system, including 

2 dispute resolution; 

3 (E) level of public and private sector cor4 ruption; 

5 (F) level of political violence; 

6 (G) labor issues; and 

7 (H) protection of property rights. 

8 (7) Information about trade and project financ9 ing in each country, such as each country’s— 

10 (A) banking and financial system, and how 

11 United States businesses typically get paid; 

12 (B) foreign exchange controls; and 

13 (C) important sources of funding for 

14 project financing. 

15 (8) Relevant business travel information and 

16 business customs in each country. 

17 (9) Information about United States embassy 

18 services and personnel available to United States 

19 businesses to support their activities in each coun20 try. 

21 SEC. 7. REPORT BY COMPTROLLER GENERAL OF THE 

22 UNITED STATES. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than two years after the 

24 date of the enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General 

25 of the United States shall submit to the Committee on 


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1 Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives and the 

2 Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report 

3 on United States economic and commercial diplomacy. 

4 (b) MATTERS TO BE INCLUDED.—The report re5 quired under subsection (a) shall include an assessment 

6 of the following: 

7 (1) What is known about the effectiveness of 

8 United States economic and commercial diplomacy 

9 in influencing foreign governments and supporting 

10 United States businesses abroad, including by small11 and medium-sized enterprises. 

12 (2) Coordination between the Department of 

13 State and the Department of Commerce with respect 

14 to United States economic and commercial diplo15 macy. 

16 (3) The effectiveness of training provided pur17 suant to subsection (d) of section 708 of the Foreign 

18 Service Act of 1980 (as added by section 4 of this 

19 Act) on matters relating to economic and commer20 cial diplomacy. 

21 (4) Recommendations to improve United States 

22 economic and commercial diplomacy. 

Æ 


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