II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 363 

To make determinations by the United States Trade Representative under 

title III of the Trade Act of 1974 reviewable by the Court of International Trade and to ensure that the United States Trade Representative considers petitions to enforce United States trade rights, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 2, 2009 

Ms. SNOWE (for herself, Mr. ROCKEFELLER, and Mr. CONRAD) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance 

A BILL 

To make determinations by the United States Trade Representative under title III of the Trade Act of 1974 

reviewable by the Court of International Trade and to 

ensure that the United States Trade Representative considers petitions to enforce United States trade rights, 

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 ‘‘Trade Complaint and 

5 Litigation Accountability Improvement Measures Act’’ or 

6 the ‘‘Trade CLAIM Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REVIEW OF DETERMINATIONS OF THE UNITED 

2 STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE BY THE 

3 COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE. 

4 Section 1581 of title 28, United States Code, is 

5 amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (i)— 

7 (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), 

8 by striking ‘‘subsections (a)–(h)’’ and inserting 

9 ‘‘subsections (a)–(h) and (k)’’; and 

10 (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ‘‘sub11 sections (a)–(h)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections 

12 (a)–(h) and (k)’’; and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(k) The Court of International Trade shall have ex15 clusive jurisdiction of any civil action commenced by a pe16 titioner requesting that the United States Trade Rep17 resentative take action under section 301 of the Trade Act 

18 of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411) to review de novo any deter19 mination, finding, or action of the United States Trade 

20 Representative under section 301(a), 302(a)(2), 

21 304(a)(1), 305(a)(2)(A)(ii), 306(b), or 307(a)(1) of the 

22 Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411(a), 2412(a)(2), 

23 2414(a)(1), 2415(a)(2)(A)(ii), 2416(b), and 

24 2417(a)(1)).’’. 


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1 SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION BY THE UNITED STATES TRADE 

2 REPRESENTATIVE OF PETITIONS TO EN3 FORCE UNITED STATES TRADE RIGHTS. 

4 (a) ACTIONS BY UNITED STATES TRADE REP5 RESENTATIVE.—Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 

6 U.S.C. 2411) is amended— 

7 (1) in subsection (a)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1) in the flush text at 

9 the end, by striking ‘‘, subject to the specific di10 rection, if any, of the President regarding any 

11 such action,’’; and 

12 (B) in paragraph (2)— 

13 (i) in the matter preceding subpara14 graph (A), by striking ‘‘in any case in 

15 which’’ and inserting ‘‘if’’; 

16 (ii) in subparagraph (A)(ii)(II), by 

17 striking ‘‘; or’’ and inserting a semicolon; 

18 and 

19 (iii) by striking subparagraph (B) and 

20 inserting the following: 

21 ‘‘(B) the foreign country has— 

22 ‘‘(i) agreed to imminently eliminate 

23 the act, policy, or practice, or 

24 ‘‘(ii) agreed to a solution to immi25 nently relieve the burden or restriction on 


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1 United States commerce resulting from the 

2 act, policy, or practice; 

3 ‘‘(C) the Trade Representative finds that it 

4 is impossible for the foreign country to achieve 

5 the results described in subparagraph (B), but 

6 the foreign country agrees to provide to the 

7 United States compensatory trade benefits that 

8 are equivalent in value to the burden or restric9 tion on United States commerce resulting from 

10 the acts, policy, or practice; 

11 ‘‘(D) in extraordinary cases, the Trade 

12 Representative finds that the taking of action 

13 under this subsection would have an adverse 

14 impact on the United States economy substan15 tially out of proportion to the benefits of such 

16 action, taking into account the impact of not 

17 taking such action on the credibility of the pro18 visions of this chapter; or 

19 ‘‘(E) the Trade Representative finds that 

20 the taking of action under this subsection would 

21 cause serious harm to the national security of 

22 the United States.’’; and 

23 (2) in subsection (c)(1)(D)— 

24 (A) by amending clauses (i) and (ii) to 

25 read as follows: 


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1 ‘‘(i) imminently eliminate the act, pol2 icy, or practice that is the subject of the 

3 action to be taken under subsection (a) or 

4 (b), 

5 ‘‘(ii) imminently relieve the burden or 

6 restriction on United States commerce re7 sulting from the act, policy, or practice, 

8 or’’; and 

9 (B) by amending subclause (I) of clause 

10 (iii) to read as follows: 

11 ‘‘(I) are equivalent in value to 

12 the burden or restriction on United 

13 States commerce resulting from the 

14 act, policy, or practice, and’’. 

15 (b) INITIATION OF INVESTIGATIONS.—Section 302 of 

16 the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2412) is amended— 

17 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking the period 

18 and inserting ‘‘based on whether the petitioner has 

19 alleged facts that, if assumed to be true, would meet 

20 the criteria set forth in section 301(a)(1).’’; and 

21 (2) in subsection (c), by striking ‘‘(a) or’’. 

22 (c) CONSULTATIONS.—Section 303 of the Trade Act 

23 of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2413) is amended— 

24 (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ‘‘mutually 

25 acceptable resolution’’ and inserting ‘‘resolution acVerDate Nov 24 2008 00:16 Feb 03, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S363.IS S363

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1 ceptable to the Trade Representative, the foreign 

2 country, and the petitioner (if any)’’; and 

3 (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ‘‘after 

4 consulting with’’ and inserting ‘‘with the consent 

5 of’’. 

6 (d) IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTIONS.—Section 

7 305(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

8 2415(a)(1)) is amended by striking ‘‘, subject to the spe9 cific direction, if any, of the President regarding any such 

10 action,’’. 

11 (e) MONITORING OF FOREIGN COMPLIANCE.—Sec12 tion 306(b) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2416(b)) 

13 is amended— 

14 (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ‘‘the Trade 

15 Representative considers’’ and inserting ‘‘the Trade 

16 Representative or the petitioner (if any) considers’’; 

17 and 

18 (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ‘‘the Trade 

19 Representative considers’’ and inserting ‘‘the Trade 

20 Representative or the petitioner (if any) considers’’. 

21 (f) MODIFICATION AND TERMINATION OF ACTION.— 

22 Section 307(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 

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1 cific direction, if any, of the President with respect to such 

2 action,’’. 

Æ 


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