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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 363 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Trade Complaint and Litigation 
Accountability Improvement Measures Act'' or the ``Trade CLAIM Act''.

SEC. 2. REVIEW OF DETERMINATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE 
              REPRESENTATIVE BY THE COURT OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE.

    Section 1581 of title 28, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (i)--
                    (A) in the matter preceding paragraph (1), by 
                striking ``subsections (a)-(h)'' and inserting 
                ``subsections (a)-(h) and (k)''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (4), by striking ``subsections 
                (a)-(h)'' and inserting ``subsections (a)-(h) and 
                (k)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(k) The Court of International Trade shall have exclusive 
jurisdiction of any civil action commenced by a petitioner requesting 
that the United States Trade Representative take action under section 
301 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411) to review de novo any 
determination, finding, or action of the United States Trade 
Representative under section 301(a), 302(a)(2), 304(a)(1), 
305(a)(2)(A)(ii), 306(b), or 307(a)(1) of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 
U.S.C. 2411(a), 2412(a)(2), 2414(a)(1), 2415(a)(2)(A)(ii), 2416(b), and 
2417(a)(1)).''.

SEC. 3. CONSIDERATION BY THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE OF 
              PETITIONS TO ENFORCE UNITED STATES TRADE RIGHTS.

    (a) Actions by United States Trade Representative.--Section 301 of 
the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2411) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)--
                    (A) in paragraph (1) in the flush text at the end, 
                by striking ``, subject to the specific direction, if 
                any, of the President regarding any such action,''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in the matter preceding subparagraph 
                        (A), by striking ``in any case in which'' and 
                        inserting ``if'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (A)(ii)(II), by 
                        striking ``; or'' and inserting a semicolon; 
                        and
                            (iii) by striking subparagraph (B) and 
                        inserting the following:
                    ``(B) the foreign country has--
                            ``(i) agreed to imminently eliminate the 
                        act, policy, or practice, or
                            ``(ii) agreed to a solution to imminently 
                        relieve the burden or restriction on United 
                        States commerce resulting from the act, policy, 
                        or practice;
                    ``(C) the Trade Representative finds that it is 
                impossible for the foreign country to achieve the 
                results described in subparagraph (B), but the foreign 
                country agrees to provide to the United States 
                compensatory trade benefits that are equivalent in 
                value to the burden or restriction on United States 
                commerce resulting from the acts, policy, or practice;
                    ``(D) in extraordinary cases, the Trade 
                Representative finds that the taking of action under 
                this subsection would have an adverse impact on the 
                United States economy substantially out of proportion 
                to the benefits of such action, taking into account the 
                impact of not taking such action on the credibility of 
                the provisions of this chapter; or
                    ``(E) the Trade Representative finds that the 
                taking of action under this subsection would cause 
                serious harm to the national security of the United 
                States.''; and
            (2) in subsection (c)(1)(D)--
                    (A) by amending clauses (i) and (ii) to read as 
                follows:
                            ``(i) imminently eliminate the act, policy, 
                        or practice that is the subject of the action 
                        to be taken under subsection (a) or (b),
                            ``(ii) imminently relieve the burden or 
                        restriction on United States commerce resulting 
                        from the act, policy, or practice, or''; and
                    (B) by amending subclause (I) of clause (iii) to 
                read as follows:
                                    ``(I) are equivalent in value to 
                                the burden or restriction on United 
                                States commerce resulting from the act, 
                                policy, or practice, and''.
    (b) Initiation of Investigations.--Section 302 of the Trade Act of 
1974 (19 U.S.C. 2412) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking the period and 
        inserting ``based on whether the petitioner has alleged facts 
        that, if assumed to be true, would meet the criteria set forth 
        in section 301(a)(1).''; and
            (2) in subsection (c), by striking ``(a) or''.
    (c) Consultations.--Section 303 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 
2413) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(2), by striking ``mutually acceptable 
        resolution'' and inserting ``resolution acceptable to the Trade 
        Representative, the foreign country, and the petitioner (if 
        any)''; and
            (2) in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking ``after consulting 
        with'' and inserting ``with the consent of''.
    (d) Implementation of Actions.--Section 305(a)(1) of the Trade Act 
of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2415(a)(1)) is amended by striking ``, subject to 
the specific direction, if any, of the President regarding any such 
action,''.
    (e) Monitoring of Foreign Compliance.--Section 306(b) of the Trade 
Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2416(b)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (1), by striking ``the Trade 
        Representative considers'' and inserting ``the Trade 
        Representative or the petitioner (if any) considers''; and
            (2) in paragraph (2)(A), by striking ``the Trade 
        Representative considers'' and inserting ``the Trade 
        Representative or the petitioner (if any) considers''.
    (f) Modification and Termination of Action.--Section 307(a)(1) of 
the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. 2417(a)(1)) is amended by striking ``, 
subject to the specific direction, if any, of the President with 
respect to such action,''.
                                 <all>
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